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S16E1 - How SpaceX Learned to Build an Orbital Rocket
You are listening to Curiosity Curated. I am Zong.
Today, SpaceX is the most active launch company in human history. In 2025 alone, it completed 170 rocket launches, nearly one launch every other day. That’s more rockets than what the rest of the world’s COUNTRIES combined have launched. SpaceX accounted for the vast majority of all US launches in 2025. For comparison, China, the next most active country, launched 93 rockets.
But in September 2008, SpaceX was a very different company. By then, it had already failed three times: three launches, three rockets lost, no orbit. And it had enough money left for just one more attempt. If the fourth rocket failed, SpaceX would not regroup, pivot, or quietly wind down. The company would shut down.
This season is about how SpaceX learned, under extreme pressure, to do something that for most of modern history only governments had done: build an orbital rocket and survive long enough to learn from failure.
The backbone of this season comes from two books by space journalist Eric Berger: Liftoff and Reentry. Berger reported closely with SpaceX engineers and is unusually willing to explainwhat actually broke, how it broke, and why that mattered.
A quick note for longtime listeners: if you’ve listened to my first season on the history of spaceflight, especially the episodes on the early days of SpaceX, This episode revisits that same period. If you prefer, you can skip ahead to Episode 2.
For everyone else, let’s start with a simple question: Why did SpaceX exist at all?
01:17 Episode Intro
03:24 Why SpaceX Existed At All
07:27 Building the First Organization
12:20 The Engine Bet: Merlin and the Problem of Propulsion
18:05 Kwajalein: from Test Stand to Launch Pad
22:52 Flight 1 & 2: Learning the Wrong Way
27:45 Flight 3: Near Success, Total Collapse
29:50 The C-17 Crisis and Zach Dunn
33:52 Flight 4: Orbit
35:15 What Survival Bought Them
38:45 Outro
Sources:
Liftoff by Eric Berger
Reentry by Eric Berger
Music:
“Intro” by ODESZA
“A Moment Apart” by ODESZA
“E-Pro” by Beck
“Tied Up in Nottz” by Sleaford Mods
“Feelin’ Alright” by Joe Cocker
“Imploding Dimension” by Alistair Hetherington
“I Might Be Wrong” by Radiohead
“The Times They Are A-Changing” by Fort Nowhere
“Who Am I” by Dario Lupo
For any feedback, please contact: [email protected]
View all episodes
By Zong WangYou are listening to Curiosity Curated. I am Zong.
Today, SpaceX is the most active launch company in human history. In 2025 alone, it completed 170 rocket launches, nearly one launch every other day. That’s more rockets than what the rest of the world’s COUNTRIES combined have launched. SpaceX accounted for the vast majority of all US launches in 2025. For comparison, China, the next most active country, launched 93 rockets.
But in September 2008, SpaceX was a very different company. By then, it had already failed three times: three launches, three rockets lost, no orbit. And it had enough money left for just one more attempt. If the fourth rocket failed, SpaceX would not regroup, pivot, or quietly wind down. The company would shut down.
This season is about how SpaceX learned, under extreme pressure, to do something that for most of modern history only governments had done: build an orbital rocket and survive long enough to learn from failure.
The backbone of this season comes from two books by space journalist Eric Berger: Liftoff and Reentry. Berger reported closely with SpaceX engineers and is unusually willing to explainwhat actually broke, how it broke, and why that mattered.
A quick note for longtime listeners: if you’ve listened to my first season on the history of spaceflight, especially the episodes on the early days of SpaceX, This episode revisits that same period. If you prefer, you can skip ahead to Episode 2.
For everyone else, let’s start with a simple question: Why did SpaceX exist at all?
01:17 Episode Intro
03:24 Why SpaceX Existed At All
07:27 Building the First Organization
12:20 The Engine Bet: Merlin and the Problem of Propulsion
18:05 Kwajalein: from Test Stand to Launch Pad
22:52 Flight 1 & 2: Learning the Wrong Way
27:45 Flight 3: Near Success, Total Collapse
29:50 The C-17 Crisis and Zach Dunn
33:52 Flight 4: Orbit
35:15 What Survival Bought Them
38:45 Outro
Sources:
Liftoff by Eric Berger
Reentry by Eric Berger
Music:
“Intro” by ODESZA
“A Moment Apart” by ODESZA
“E-Pro” by Beck
“Tied Up in Nottz” by Sleaford Mods
“Feelin’ Alright” by Joe Cocker
“Imploding Dimension” by Alistair Hetherington
“I Might Be Wrong” by Radiohead
“The Times They Are A-Changing” by Fort Nowhere
“Who Am I” by Dario Lupo
For any feedback, please contact: [email protected]