To build the largest rocket in the world, SpaceX needs logistics commensurate with its scale. And that includes a Boeing 737 with the company logo.
SpaceX planes. Elon Musk’s aerospace company not only manages rockets and satellites. As it has grown, it has bought airplanes until ending up with a small private airline that connects its centers in California, Texas and Florida.
Until a year ago, the entire fleet was made up of private jets, but SpaceX ended up acquiring a complete commercial plane: a Boeing 737-800 that it uses to move workers and components with agility.
The history of the N154TS. A few days ago, the Los Angeles “planespotters” recorded a landing of SpaceX’s largest plane, in its black and dark gray livery, with details such as the Starship thermal tiles on the tail.
The Boeing 737-800 entered service in 2002 for Air China and was later converted into a cargo aircraft. Now, under the ownership of Falcon Aviation Holdings LLC (a subsidiary of SpaceX), it makes trips between Los Angeles, Brownsville and Florida, where SpaceX’s three major headquarters are located: Hawthorne, Starbase and Cape Canaveral.
The four Gulfstreams. SpaceX is a private company, but thanks to trackers like GrndCntrl we also know the rest of the fleet. Owned by SpaceX are: a Gulfstream G650ER primarily associated with Elon Musk, two Gulfstream G550s used for critical logistics and executive transportation, and a Gulfstream G450 linked to Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, who lives between Washington and Starbase.
The Boeing was the last plane to join the fleet. While a private jet like the Gulfstream moves a few executives, a 737 can transport dozens of engineers and support teams in a single trip, something vital for moving a workforce during a launch campaign.
But is it profitable? Buying a commercial plane instead of charter flights only makes economic sense for a company the size of SpaceX. The ability to move engineers with sensitive tools and hardware without going through commercial airport security saves a billion-dollar aerospace company thousands of work hours a year.
In addition, there is an undeniable aesthetic component. Like its rockets, the company takes care of the image of its planes. As Teslarati commented, the plane is not only functional for transporting support equipment between launch sites; It also has a coat of paint that attracts everyone’s attention.
