First published in Respekt.

The firm SpaceX recently listed shares at record levels, outlining schemes to relocate AI systems into orbit and overhaul worldwide internet links. How did the venture begin, and what might its rise signify for the world today?

During 2001 a gathering for PayPal staff occurred in Las Vegas. Present was the former leader, a 30-year-old coder and dreamer Elon Musk, who possessed degrees in physics and economics.

He had not resented when colleagues ousted him from leadership the prior year (then the firm operated as X.com), labeling him an insufferable visionary who dismissed caution. He viewed the takeover as a chance to launch a bolder enterprise. Following brief resentment, he reconciled with his peers.

At the event, however, attendees avoided extended interaction. He remained mostly in a shaded area near the pool, reviewing a worn guide to a Russian rocket motor. "I aim to settle Mars," he told an ex-colleague about his focus. "My purpose is to make humanity a multi-planet species." "You have lost it!" came the response.

Musk offered reasons nonetheless.

Advanced life may prove scarce across the cosmos. What if Earth faced ruin from an asteroid strike, atomic conflict or shifting climate? A settlement on Mars might then offer the sole survival path. This tied into his background - tense relations with an unstable, controlling father and the perspective of an immigrant who arrived in America from South Africa.

To the young Musk, America represented a nation of explorers who headed west despite peril and claimed fresh lands. Yet he sensed this explorer drive was waning.

A voyage to Mars could restore it. But what route existed? He discovered no detailed scheme on the NASA site. Alone he could accomplish little, he concluded; a private citizen could never afford rocket construction. Or could one? He visited a library and checked out texts on propulsion science. He began contacting specialists and requesting outdated engine guides.

Twenty-five years later, on 12 June 2026, his firm SpaceX issued shares and recorded the biggest market debut ever, measured by valuation and funds secured.

Share values have varied since.

Musk also seeks to transfer artificial intelligence into space for abundant solar power, though this demands vast spending. Backers worry a firm that posted losses last year will exhaust capital rapidly.

Do such concerns hold weight? And should those who avoided investing fear Musk's drive?

A Moscow encounter and a prophetic self-view

At the start of the millennium, Musk's initial concept involved only dispatching a greenhouse of plants to Mars. He believed this would stir public interest and force Congress to boost NASA funding. He also considered purchasing a rocket in Russia for the task.