To Californians, it looked like a UFO. To Elon Musk, success

The coming year is expected to be even bigger with three launch pads now at their disposal

SpaceX’s launch last week of a rocket carrying a batch of satellites into low-earth orbit caps a record year for the closely held company led by Elon Musk.

The mission from California’s central coast was Space Exploration Technologies Corp’s 18th this year. That’s more than any competitor and far exceeds the eight it launched in 2016 before a September explosion grounded the company for the rest of the year while an investigation took place.

“SpaceX has had a phenomenal year, and they’ve motivated and inspired a lot of people as to what is possible,” said Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial