SpaceX's first employee remains on mission: "Space is super important"

Tom Mueller, the very first employee at SpaceX, remains deeply committed to the company's mission and the broader field of space exploration. Mueller, an aerospace engineer, met Elon Musk through an amateur rocket club and was convinced to leave his career to join what he describes as an "exciting" venture – a decision he calls one of the best he ever made.

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I met Elon through an amateur rocket club, and he convinced me to leave that career and come do something exciting, which was one of the best decisions I ever made.

On the cusp of SpaceX's initial public offering, Mueller praised Musk's entrepreneurial skills and his talent for nurturing talent. "He found good talent, and he energized good talent," Mueller told CBS News. He also expressed confidence in the company's trajectory, stating, "We believed it and we did it. So it was really cool."

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He found good talent, and he energized good talent.

Mueller, who helped develop the engines for SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, sees the upcoming IPO as another milestone in the company's journey. He noted Musk's focus on creating a low-cost way to access space, which materialized with the successful Falcon 9. "Elon really wanted to make a low-cost way to get space, which became Falcon 9...and it worked," Mueller said.

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We believed it and we did it. So it was really cool.

After leaving SpaceX, Mueller founded Impulse Space, a startup focused on in-space payload delivery and satellite maneuvering. He continues to be a strong advocate for space exploration, emphasizing its tangible benefits for life on Earth, such as advancements in GPS and weather forecasting. "So space is super important, more than people realize," he stated, anticipating a significant expansion in space-based activities like orbital data centers and resource utilization from the moon and asteroids.

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Elon really wanted to make a low-cost way to get space, which became Falcon 9...and it worked.