'All Atlassians can feel very proud': Mike Cannon-Brookes on the company's role in SpaceX's historic rocket launch

Sharon Masige
Belinda Pratten/ SuppliedAtlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes.
  • Atlassian software played a role in SpaceX’s historic rocket launch during the weekend.
  • SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, successfully launched two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station – the first launch by a commercial company.
  • Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes said in a statement, “It’s amazing to play a small part in a huge piece of history.”
  • Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Aussie software giant Atlassian had a hand to play in SpaceX’s first-ever astronaut launch.

SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, made history on Saturday May 30 when its Endeavour spaceship launched two NASA astronauts – Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley – to the International Space Station which orbits the earth.

According to Business Insider, it is the first time a commercial spacecraft has taken people into space, and the first time astronauts have launched from the US since the Space Shuttle Program ended nine years ago.

And Australia’s very own tech company Atlassian had a part in the launch, with SpaceX using its Jira, Confluence and BitBucket software. Jira is a work management system, while Confluence is a content collaboration tool and BitBucket helps teams work together on code.

Steven Behnke, an Atlassian software developer who works at SpaceX posted about the company’s role on LinkedIn.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes said it was “amazing” to play a part in the history-making launch.

“All Atlassians can feel very proud that our products helped to send the first private spacecraft carrying humans into orbit,” he said in a statement. “In these complex times, teams working together are still achieving incredible feats. It’s amazing to play a small part in a huge piece of history.”

Cannon-Brookes also posted on Twitter about Atlassian’s involvement in the launch.

He also congratulated the astronauts.

Elon Musk told reporters after the launch that he was “overcome with emotion”.

“This is hopefully the first step on a journey towards civilisation on Mars, of life becoming multiplanetary, a base on the moon and expanding beyond Earth,” he said.

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