• August. Franz von Holzhausen joined Tesla Motors as Chief Designer
• October. Elon Musk became the CEO after interviewing more than 20 prospective CEOs
• November. Tesla revealed it had requested about $400 million in loans for the Model S and powertrain manufacturing, under the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program
2009
• March. Tesla unveiled two Model S prototypes at the Los Angeles headquarters of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s other startup, SpaceX. Tesla had decided to build a design studio at the factory. Tesla began taking reservations for the Model S. More than 500 people reserved the car in the first week
• June. Tesla got approval for $465 million in low-interest loans from the Department of Energy
2010
• January. Tesla registered for an initial public offering of stock
• May. Tesla bought NUMMI – a former Toyota and General Motors factory in Fremont, California, for $42 million. Toyota Motors and Tesla announced they will cooperate on electric vehicle development. Toyota purchased Tesla shares June. 800 employees. Tesla shares began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and gained 40.5 percent
2012
• January. Tesla ended production of the Roadster to focus on the Model S
• February. Tesla revealed the Model X – a small SUV and says it will go on sale in early 2014
• June. 2000 employees. The Model S was officially launched at the Fremont factory. Retail deliveries of the Model S started in the United States
• September. Unveiled the Supercharger network
SpaceX
1957. Soviet’s Sputnik 1 became the first satellite to go into orbit
1961. The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space
1969. Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon
1981. First flight of the Space Shuttle
2000. First long-duration stay on the International Space Station (ISS)
2001
• July. Elon came up with the idea to do space
2002
• June. Elon Musk founded the company
• December. 14 employees
2006
• March. First failed flight of the Falcon 1
• December. 224 employees
2007
• March. Second failed flight of the Falcon 1
2008
• August. Third failed flight of the Falcon 1
• September. First successful flight of the Falcon 1 and becomes the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach Earth orbit
• December. 618 employees. NASA awards SpaceX a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract
2009
• July. Last flight of the Falcon 1 and becomes the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to deliver a commercial satellite to Earth orbit
2010
• June. First flight of the Falcon 9
• December. 1200 employees. First flight of the Dragon capsule and becomes the first privately developed spacecraft in history to re-enter from low-Earth orbit
2011
• July. Last flight of the Space Shuttle
2012
• May. Launch of first cargo delivery flight to the space station ISS
• September. First hop of the Grasshopper
• December. 2200 employees
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