General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsElon Musk reportedly warned that SpaceX faces the 'risk of bankruptcy' from lack of Starship engine
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says the company's Raptor program is in "crisis" and poses a major threat to the entire space venture.
Musk said he is upset with the lack of progress on the Raptor engines that power its Starship rocket in a company-wide email that was sent out the day after Thanksgiving and later obtained by CNBC's Michael Sheetz. The news was first reported by Space Explored.
"We face genuine risk of bankruptcy if we cannot achieve a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year," Musk said, according to CNBC's report.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment from Insider. But, Musk has faced the very real possibility of bankruptcy in the past. The CEO has said his other business venture, Tesla, was only a month away from bankruptcy when it was ramping up production of the Model 3 between 2017 and 2019.
While SpaceX is currently the second-most valuable private company in the world, the success of Raptor engine production represents a crucial part of the future of the company, including Musk's plan to populate Mars. SpaceX is developing Starship, a massive next-generation spaceship, as a means to launch people and cargo to Mars and the moon. To date, the company has only tested out the rocket on short test flights at its facility in Texas, as Starship will need as many as 39 Raptor engines to power it for orbital launches.
https://news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-reportedly-warned-spacex-155856498.html
Well, Elon, it is rocket science, you know...
onecaliberal
(32,489 posts)bigtree
(85,920 posts)...sky falling appeal.
exboyfil
(17,857 posts)My daughter agreed to them purchasing a Tesla. It doesn't have the represented mileage range in Iowa, and he took "her" Subaru to see his parents leaving her with either the Tesla she doesn't trust or their old Ford Escape to visit a friend last weekend.
You want the low down on Musk, then watch Thunderfoot's Youtube channel. He is not entirely fair, but he he is close.
The King of Vaporware.
Zorro
(15,691 posts)Not sure why a Tesla's range would be constricted, unless it's the lack of available supercharging stations combined with cold weather.
electric_blue68
(14,623 posts)Leith
(7,802 posts)Really, how many of us would give a flying fuck if his little spaceman fantasy costs him billions? Surely he can't think that it matters to most of us? Zephram Cochrane* he ain't.
* Gratuitous Star Trek reference. See the movie Star Trek First Contact for more information.
Another gratuitous reference.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)Leith
(7,802 posts)What is some of the stuff that NASA is paying him for?
Klaralven
(7,510 posts)The Raptor is SpaceXs massive methane engine that will be used to propel the companys next-generation launch system, called Starship. SpaceX plans to use Starship to take people to deep space, and in April, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to develop Starship as a lunar lander to transport astronauts to the Moons surface as early as 2025. SpaceX has been hard at work developing and testing Starship prototypes at the companys test site in Boca Chica, Texas, though the company has yet to launch the vehicle to orbit.
SpaceX is currently hoping to conduct Starships first orbital launch in either January or February of 2022, according to a presentation given by Musk to the National Academies of Sciences on November 17th. However, according to Musks email, SpaceX needs to launch Starship at least once every two weeks next year to keep the company afloat. And apparently, Raptor engine development isnt on track at the moment.
I WILL BE ON THE RAPTOR LINE ALL NIGHT AND THROUGH THE WEEKEND
In the email, first reported by SpaceExplored and CNBC, Musk claimed that after key senior management departed the company, SpaceX personnel looked deeper into issues surrounding Raptor production and found them to be far more severe than was reported. Two vice presidents, one of whom worked on Raptor engine development, recently left the company, CNBC reported this month.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/30/22809720/elon-musk-spacex-raptor-engine-crisis-bankruptcy-starship
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)n 2006 NASA announced that SpaceX had won a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Phase 1 contract to demonstrate cargo delivery to the International Space Station (ISS), with a possible contract option for crew transport.[182] Through this contract, designed by NASA to provide "seed money" through Space Act Agreements for developing new capabilities, NASA paid SpaceX US$396 million to develop the cargo configuration of the Dragon spacecraft, while SpaceX self-invested more than US$500 million to develop the Falcon 9 launch vehicle.[183] These Space Act Agreements have been shown to have saved NASA millions of dollars in development costs, making rocket development ~410 times cheaper than if produced by NASA alone.[184]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)JT45242
(2,173 posts)while he screamed against regular folks getting support or him paying any actual taxes , he will gladly scam more of our tax dollars to subsidize his Napoleon complex.
Edim
(300 posts)msongs
(67,199 posts)Claire Oh Nette
(2,636 posts)XRubicon
(2,212 posts)For a fortune. This from Mr rugged individualist who doesn't need the government and will "privatize" space travel. Yeah private profits and public losses, same old song and dance from this piece of shit.
Turns out making rocket engines isn't easy or cheap, no one could have known that... .