Tag Archives: SpaceX

The business site Benzinga reports: Elon Musk said on Friday that he discussed the idea of a ‘government deficiency commission’ with Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump in case the former President reclaims the White House. The CEO also expressed his willingness to be part of it. “I have discussed with Trump the idea of a government deficiency commission,” Musk told …

CBS News reports: SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink internet satellites from California Thursday, but the engine powering the rocket’s second stage suffered a catastrophic failure, if not an explosion, during an attempt to carry out a final “burn” to raise the low point of the orbit, company founder Elon Musk posted early Friday on X. Musk referred to the …

The New York Times reports: For more than two decades, Elon Musk has focused SpaceX, his rocket company, on his lifelong goal of reaching Mars. Over the last year, he has also ramped up work on what will happen if he gets there. Mr. Musk told SpaceX employees in April that he now expects one million people to be living …

Axios reports: NASA picked SpaceX to develop and deliver a spacecraft that’ll bring the International Space Station out of orbit after the operational life of the ISS ends in 2030, the space agency announced Wednesday. The spacecraft, which NASA is calling the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, needs to guide the ISS safely back through Earth’s atmosphere before its planned crash into …

NBC News reports: Eight former SpaceX employees are suing the rocket company and its CEO Elon Musk, alleging that Musk personally ordered their firing after they accused SpaceX of tolerating sexual harassment in the workplace. The eight employees were all fired in 2022 after they circulated an “open letter” within SpaceX alleging that Musk’s “behavior in the public sphere is …

The New York Times reports: Starship, the gargantuan rocket under development by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, launched on Thursday morning to make a fourth attempt to get to space and back. The previous three flights of the vehicle all ended in explosions, but each got farther than the last. Such progress is regarded as success in SpaceX’s break-it-then-fix-it approach to engineering …

Roll Call reports: The Defense Department is working with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to find and disable Starlink satellite internet terminals that have fallen into Russian hands, but the problem is not going away, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday. SpaceX’s Starlink terminals enabled Ukrainian forces to communicate with each other and with their families after Russia’s 2022 invasion had shut …

Reuters reports: SpaceX is building launch facilities, office buildings and even a shopping center in rural Texas, as billionaire Elon Musk’s space venture rapidly expands its rocket and satellite business across the Lone Star state. But a Reuters review of Texas property records shows that SpaceX and its contractors can be far slower to pay builders and suppliers than they …

Ars Technica reports: SpaceX is reportedly working with at least one major US defense contractor, Northrop Grumman, on a constellation of spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office. According to Reuters, development of the network of hundreds of spy satellites by SpaceX is being coordinated with multiple contractors to avoid putting too much control of a highly sensitive intelligence program …

Reuters reports: Chinese military and state-run media on Sunday accused the United States of threatening global security, days after a Reuters report which found Elon Musk’s SpaceX was building hundreds of spy satellites for a U.S. intelligence agency. A social media account run by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said the SpaceX program exposed the United States’ “shamelessness and double …

Reuters reports: SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a U.S. intelligence agency, five sources familiar with the program said, demonstrating deepening ties between billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space company and national security agencies. The network is being built by SpaceX’s Starshield business unit under a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2021 …

The New York Times reports: The third try was closer to the charm for Elon Musk and SpaceX, as the company’s flight test of the mammoth Starship rocket launched on Thursday and traveled almost halfway around the Earth before it was lost as it re-entered the atmosphere. The flight achieved some key milestones in the development of the vehicle, which …

CBC News reports: SpaceX’s huge Super Heavy-Starship rocket, by far the most powerful ever built, blasted off on its third test flight Thursday morning. The test aimed to boost the unpiloted upper stage into space on a sub-orbital hop to a controlled re-entry and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The giant rocket’s 33 Raptor engines, gulping 40,000 pounds of liquid …

Reuters reports: Rocket maker SpaceX on Tuesday will appear before a U.S. labor board judge to face claims that it fired eight engineers for criticizing CEO Elon Musk and accusing him of sexist conduct in a letter to company executives. The NLRB’s general counsel, which acts as a prosecutor, claims SpaceX violated U.S. labor law by firing the engineers in …

Bloomberg News reports: Elon Musk’s drug use has worried executives and board members at businesses he runs, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the billionaire and the companies. Musk has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, often at private parties, the Journal said, citing unnamed witnesses and others with knowledge of the matter. People close …

Bloomberg News reports: SpaceX sued the US labor board in federal court on Thursday, arguing that a complaint against the Elon Musk-led company for firing employees should be put on hold because the agency’s structure is unconstitutional. The response comes after National Labor Relations Board prosecutors filed a formal complaint against SpaceX, accusing the space transportation company of illegally firing …

Reuters reports: Rocket and satellite maker SpaceX on Wednesday was accused by a U.S. labor agency of unlawfully firing eight employees for circulating a letter calling founder and CEO Elon Musk a “distraction and embarrassment.” A regional official with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint claiming SpaceX violated the workers’ rights under federal labor law to band …

Mediaite reports: Maye Musk, the mother of billionaire X/Twitter owner Elon Musk, complained to President Joe Biden on Wednesday after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opted not to give Musk’s Starlink nearly $900 million in government subsidies. After FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr protested the decision and accused his agency of joining a “growing list of federal agencies engaging in the …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday reaffirmed its 2022 decision to deny SpaceX satellite internet unit Starlink $885.5 million in rural broadband subsidies. The FCC said the decision impacting Elon Musk’s space company was based on Starlink’s failure to meet basic program requirements and that Starlink could not demonstrate it could deliver promised service after SpaceX had …

CNN reports: The Starship system made it much further into flight than the first attempt in April, but ultimately ended in another explosion. The rocket and spacecraft safely lifted off the pad, with the Super Heavy booster igniting all 33 of its engines. During the last attempt, multiple engines shut down prematurely. Then, the Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft …