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Company · Hawthorne · United States

SpaceX (United States)

In research, SpaceX (United States) stands highest in Physical Sciences (#6,561 of 17,446 worldwide), over all time.

spacex.comROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#18,747
of 22,385 · #19,859 all time
Rank in United States
#2,763
of 3,332
Research works
211
▲ 98% vs 2018-21
Citations
2.3k
10.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
11.5%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.09×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
25%
world 40%
International
28%
world 18%
SpaceX (United States)

What is SpaceX (United States) known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, over all time, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Physical SciencesDomain #6,561 of 17,446 10.1%185

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where SpaceX (United States) sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does SpaceX (United States) work in?

In 2022-now, 86% of research at SpaceX (United States) is in Physical Sciences, 7% in Health Sciences. Its largest fields are Engineering (48%), Physics and Astronomy (18%), Medicine (7%). It does 2.1× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 68 fractional works · 86.1% of its workEngineering: 38 fractional works · 48.2% of its workAerospace Engineering: 18 fractional works · 23.2% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 7 fractional works · 9.3% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 3 fractional works · 4.0% of its workComputational Mechanics: 2 fractional works · 2.0% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 2 fractional works · 2.0% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workMechanical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workMechanics of Materials: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workBuilding and Construction: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workOcean Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 14 fractional works · 17.8% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 12 fractional works · 15.1% of its workRadiation: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workInstrumentation: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 4 fractional works · 4.9% of its workAtmospheric Science: 2 fractional works · 2.3% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workOceanography: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workGeophysics: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workComputer Science: 3 fractional works · 4.4% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 1 fractional works · 1.5% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workComputer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 3 fractional works · 4.3% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 2 fractional works · 2.3% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workGeneral Materials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workBiomaterials: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCeramics and Composites: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEnvironmental Science: 2 fractional works · 2.4% of its workEcology: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workWater Science and Technology: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPollution: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMathematics: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workApplied Mathematics: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workNumerical Analysis: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workEnergy: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 1 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workChemical Health and Safety: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCatalysis: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workFluid Flow and Transfer Processes: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workProcess Chemistry and Technology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workHealth Sciences: 6 fractional works · 7.1% of its workMedicine: 5 fractional works · 6.9% of its workPhysiology: 3 fractional works · 3.8% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 1 fractional works · 1.1% of its workCritical Care and Intensive Care Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEmergency Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSurgery: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workInfectious Diseases: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workOrthopedics and Sports Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHealth Professions: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 3 fractional works · 4.4% of its workSocial Sciences: 2 fractional works · 2.7% of its workSociology and Political Science: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workTransportation: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workAnthropology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPsychology: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSocial Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workArts and Humanities: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 2 fractional works · 2.4% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workMolecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workGenetics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPlant Science: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workFood Science: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKSpaceX (UnitedStates)79fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences2%Physical Sciences86%Health Sciences7%Social Sciences4%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 21 fields, with their numbers
    1. Engineering3848.2%
    2. Physics and Astronomy1417.8%
    3. Earth and Planetary Sciences44.9%
    4. Computer Science34.4%
    5. Materials Science34.3%
    6. Environmental Science22.4%
    7. Mathematics11.2%
    8. Energy11.2%
    9. Chemical Engineering11.2%
    10. Chemistry00.3%
    1. Medicine56.9%
    2. Health Professions00.2%
    1. Social Sciences22.7%
    2. Decision Sciences10.9%
    3. Psychology00.6%
    4. Arts and Humanities00.1%
    5. Business, Management and Accounting00.1%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology11.2%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences10.9%
    3. Neuroscience00.2%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology00.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.20× its world share, 1 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.22× its world share, 1 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 3.43× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.20× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.56× its world share, 3 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.16× its world share, 4 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.34× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 3.21× its world share, 38 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.49× its world share, 2 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.24× its world share, 3 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.06× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 8.02× its world share, 14 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.36× its world share, 6 worksMedicineArts and Humanities: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.95× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesPsychology: 0.21× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.21× its world share, 2 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 8.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 21 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy8.02×14 works
  2. Chemical Engineering3.43×1 works
  3. Engineering3.21×38 works
  4. Earth and Planetary Sciences3.16×4 works
  5. Energy1.34×1 works
  6. Materials Science1.24×3 works
  7. Mathematics1.06×1 works
  8. Decision Sciences0.95×1 works
  9. Computer Science0.56×3 works
  10. Environmental Science0.49×2 works
  11. Medicine0.36×6 works
  12. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.22×1 works
  13. Psychology0.21×0 works
  14. Social Sciences0.21×2 works
  15. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.20×1 works
  16. Chemistry0.20×0 works
  17. Neuroscience0.11×0 works
  18. Health Professions0.06×0 works
  19. Immunology and Microbiology0.05×0 works
  20. Arts and Humanities0.03×0 works
  21. Business, Management and Accounting0.03×0 works

Who are the top researchers at SpaceX (United States)?

Ranked on the quality score, Jaime Mateus, Elon R. Musk and J. P. Carrico lead among researchers whose main affiliation is SpaceX (United States).

  1. 1 Jaime Mateus United States · #335,469 worldwide 556 citations · 28 works
  2. 2 Elon R. Musk United States · #945,927 worldwide 1.1k citations · 30 works
  3. 3 J. P. Carrico United States · #3,316,771 worldwide 924 citations · 71 works
All ranked researchers at SpaceX (United States)

What are the most cited papers from SpaceX (United States)?

The most cited paper from SpaceX (United States) is "Overview of the Instrumentation for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument" (B. Abareshi et al., 2022), with 463 citations. Next come "Lossless Convexification of Nonconvex Control Bound and Pointing Constraints of the Soft Landing Optimal Control Problem" (314) and "Convex Optimization for Trajectory Generation: A Tutorial on Generating Dynamically Feasible Trajectories Reliably and Efficiently" (259).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Overview of the Instrumentation for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument B. Abareshi et al. · The Astronomical Journal Open access269 authors 21 Oct 2022 463
2 Lossless Convexification of Nonconvex Control Bound and Pointing Constraints of the Soft Landing Optimal Control Problem Behcet A. Acikmese, John M. Carson, Lars Blackmore · IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology Feb 2013 314
3 Convex Optimization for Trajectory Generation: A Tutorial on Generating Dynamically Feasible Trajectories Reliably and Efficiently Danylo Malyuta, Taylor P. Reynolds, Michael Szmuk et al. · IEEE Control Systems 28 Sep 2022 259
4 Computational prediction of new auxetic materials John M. Dagdelen, Joseph H. Montoya, Maarten de Jong et al. · Nature Communications Open access 14 Aug 2017 164
5 The neutron star interior composition explorer (NICER): mission definition Zaven Arzoumanian et al. · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE Conference paper 29 Jul 2014 151
All 62 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at SpaceX (United States)?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Risk Assessment, Mars, Martian Surface, Design, Biomechanics, Orbit Determination, Simulation and On-Orbit Servicing.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Risk Assessment4▲ 8.0×7 topics
  2. Mars4▲ 149×1 topic
  3. Martian Surface4▲ 149×1 topic
  4. Design3▲ 27×2 topics
  5. Biomechanics3▲ 14×4 topics
  6. Orbit Determination3▲ 88×2 topics
  7. On-Orbit Servicing3▲ 165×1 topic
  8. Simulation3▲ 15×3 topics
  9. Space Debris3▲ 165×1 topic
  10. Extravehicular Activity3▲ 425×1 topic
  11. Optimal Control3▲ 45×2 topics
  12. Space Suit3▲ 425×1 topic
  13. Microgravity3▲ 177×1 topic
  14. Spaceflight3▲ 177×1 topic
  15. Spacecraft Formation Flying2▲ 188×1 topic
  16. Trajectory Optimization2▲ 50×1 topic
  17. Thermal Analysis2▲ 23×3 topics
  18. Power Electronics2▲ 8.7×6 topics
  19. CubeSat2▲ 142×1 topic
  20. Solar System Abundances2▲ 54×1 topic
  21. Terrestrial Planets2▲ 54×1 topic
  22. small satellite2▲ 142×1 topic
  23. Deep Learning2▼ 0.64×9 topics
  24. Optimization2▲ 4.6×5 topics
  25. Solar Wind2▲ 22×2 topics
  26. Space Exploration2▲ 45×2 topics
  27. Climate Change2▼ 0.72×9 topics
  28. Combustion Instabilities2▲ 32×2 topics
  29. Machine Learning2▼ 0.57×7 topics
  30. Renewable Energy Integration2▲ 5.7×3 topics
  31. Astrobiology1▲ 58×1 topic
  32. Extraterrestrial Life1▲ 84×1 topic
  33. Hybrid Rocket Propulsion1▲ 84×1 topic
  34. Regression Rate Behavior1▲ 84×1 topic
  35. Fault Tolerance1▲ 9.4×4 topics
  36. Supernovae1▲ 18×2 topics
  37. Thermal Management1▲ 4.1×3 topics
  38. Channel Modeling1▲ 11×2 topics
  39. Collision Avoidance1▲ 7.3×2 topics
  40. Genetic Algorithms1▲ 9.3×2 topics

Which research topics does SpaceX (United States) publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Planetary Science and Exploration, Space Satellite Systems and Control, Space Exploration and Technology and Spaceflight effects on biology.

Planetary Science and Ex…4Planetary Science and Exploration: 4 fractional worksSpace Satellite Systems …3Space Satellite Systems and Control: 3 fractional worksSpace Exploration and Te…3Space Exploration and Technology: 3 fractional worksSpaceflight effects on b…3Spaceflight effects on biology: 3 fractional worksSpacecraft Dynamics and Control: 2 fractional worksSpacecraft Design and Technology: 2 fractional worksAstro and Planetary Scie…2Astro and Planetary Science: 2 fractional worksSpace Science and Extraterrestrial Life: 1 fractional worksRocket and propulsion systems research: 1 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 1 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsAerospace EngineeringPhysiology

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy and Astrophysics 4 works
  2. 2 Space Satellite Systems and Control Aerospace Engineering 3 works
  3. 3 Space Exploration and Technology Aerospace Engineering 3 works
  4. 4 Spaceflight effects on biology Physiology 3 works
  5. 5 Spacecraft Dynamics and Control Aerospace Engineering 2 works
  6. 6 Spacecraft Design and Technology Aerospace Engineering 2 works
  7. 7 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 works
  8. 8 Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life Astronomy and Astrophysics 1 works
  9. 9 Rocket and propulsion systems research Aerospace Engineering 1 works
  10. 10 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 1 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available25.0%not open75.0%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors28.2%domestic only71.8%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has SpaceX (United States)'s research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 98% higher than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is SpaceX (United States) as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00035% in 2024.

still counting0.00020%0.00040%0.00060%SpaceX (United States)0.00050% in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works of SpaceX (United States) over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

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SpaceX (United States) on Science Explorer

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