On Black Friday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sent an anxious email to his companys employees, urging them to work over the weekend on SpaceXs 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 doesnt increase to support a high flight rate of the companys new Starship rocket next year.
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