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Zorro

(15,691 posts)
Tue Nov 30, 2021, 02:56 PM Nov 2021

Elon 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...

17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Elon Musk reportedly warned that SpaceX faces the 'risk of bankruptcy' from lack of Starship engine (Original Post) Zorro Nov 2021 OP
And all of the money he spent wasted. How much good it could have done for people. onecaliberal Nov 2021 #1
standard appeal for donations bigtree Nov 2021 #2
My SIL is a Muskite exboyfil Nov 2021 #3
I've driven Teslas cross-country eight times now Zorro Nov 2021 #5
I believe in Spaceflight. And Elon pay it with your OWN $$$$$$$$! electric_blue68 Nov 2021 #4
He says that like it's a threat Leith Nov 2021 #6
Mudd Generic Other Nov 2021 #7
You do realize Nasa is paying him for lots of stuff? USALiberal Nov 2021 #9
No, I did not Leith Nov 2021 #11
$2.9 billion of stuff Klaralven Nov 2021 #14
Here.... USALiberal Nov 2021 #17
Lord wrecks his company, is angling for more free government money. sarcasmo Nov 2021 #15
another grab for more corporate welfare JT45242 Nov 2021 #8
A con man, straight out of a picture book. Edim Nov 2021 #10
bankruptcy equals cheat people to whom you owe money nt msongs Nov 2021 #12
Pobrecito nino.... nt Claire Oh Nette Nov 2021 #13
Here's where he holds up Uncle Sam XRubicon Nov 2021 #16

exboyfil

(17,857 posts)
3. My SIL is a Muskite
Tue Nov 30, 2021, 03:08 PM
Nov 2021

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)
5. I've driven Teslas cross-country eight times now
Tue Nov 30, 2021, 03:16 PM
Nov 2021

Not sure why a Tesla's range would be constricted, unless it's the lack of available supercharging stations combined with cold weather.

Leith

(7,802 posts)
6. He says that like it's a threat
Tue Nov 30, 2021, 03:27 PM
Nov 2021

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.

 

Klaralven

(7,510 posts)
14. $2.9 billion of stuff
Tue Nov 30, 2021, 05:38 PM
Nov 2021
On Black Friday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sent an anxious email to his company’s employees, urging them to work over the weekend on SpaceX’s Raptor engine line and describing the production situation as a “crisis.” In the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Verge, Musk argued that the company faces a “genuine risk of bankruptcy” if production doesn’t increase to support a high flight rate of the company’s new Starship rocket next year.

The Raptor is SpaceX’s massive methane engine that will be used to propel the company’s 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 Moon’s surface as early as 2025. SpaceX has been hard at work developing and testing Starship prototypes at the company’s test site in Boca Chica, Texas, though the company has yet to launch the vehicle to orbit.

SpaceX is currently hoping to conduct Starship’s 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 Musk’s email, SpaceX needs to launch Starship at least once every two weeks next year to keep the company afloat. And apparently, Raptor engine development isn’t 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)
17. Here....
Tue Nov 30, 2021, 08:38 PM
Nov 2021

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 ~4–10 times cheaper than if produced by NASA alone.[184]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX

JT45242

(2,173 posts)
8. another grab for more corporate welfare
Tue Nov 30, 2021, 04:13 PM
Nov 2021

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.

XRubicon

(2,212 posts)
16. Here's where he holds up Uncle Sam
Tue Nov 30, 2021, 05:44 PM
Nov 2021

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... .

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