Who built the world's largest rocket?

Short answer

The world's largest rocket, Starship, is designed, built, and launched by SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk in 2002. It is built at Starbase, the company's factory and launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, with no outside prime contractors: structures, Raptor engines, and the launch tower are all made in-house.

Published: September 21, 2026 · Updated: September 21, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Fourth Launch for SpaceX’s Starship (CIRA 2024-06-06)

A company, not an agency

Unlike the Saturn V, which NASA commissioned from Boeing, North American, and Douglas, or the SLS, assembled by Boeing with engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne and boosters from Northrop Grumman, Starship is a private project from a single company. SpaceX funds it with its own revenue, mainly from Starlink and Falcon 9 launches, and with NASA contracts for the lunar lander version of the Artemis program, worth more than $4 billion (as of May 2026).

Who builds it

Starbase, in South Texas, concentrates the manufacturing: stainless-steel rings welded in tall high-bay buildings, stage assembly, cryogenic testing, and launch, all within a few kilometers of coastline. Raptor engines are built in Hawthorne, California, and at a dedicated plant in McGregor, Texas, where they are also tested. Starbase's workforce exceeds two thousand employees, and the site incorporated as its own municipality in 2025.

Who runs it

Elon Musk is SpaceX's founder, CEO, and chief engineer, and Starship is his personal bet on making life multiplanetary. Day-to-day management of the company falls to Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer since 2008. The program advances through the iterative method that characterizes SpaceX: prototypes are built in series, flown early, and each loss is treated as a source of data, rather than relying on lengthy paper development like institutional launch vehicles.