Musk Droppings (1 Viewer)

[Huntn]

SpaceX’s Starship explodes in second failure for Musk’s Mars program

Back-to-back mishaps indicate big setbacks for program to launch satellites and send humans to the moon and Mars

www.theguardian.com

The failure comes just more than a month after the company’s seventh Starship flight also ended in an explosive failure. The back-to-back mishaps occurred in early mission phases that SpaceX has easily surpassed previously, indicating serious setbacks for a program Musk has sought to speed up this year.

 

[coldseat]

SpaceX’s Starship explodes in second failure for Musk’s Mars program

Back-to-back mishaps indicate big setbacks for program to launch satellites and send humans to the moon and Mars

www.theguardian.com

The failure comes just more than a month after the company’s seventh Starship flight also ended in an explosive failure. The back-to-back mishaps occurred in early mission phases that SpaceX has easily surpassed previously, indicating serious setbacks for a program Musk has sought to speed up this year.

Space X is cutting corners. Shocker!

I used to like that company before Musk came out with his full colors and showed us all exactly who he is an how he operates. After this era of Trump is over, NASA/US government needs to cut ties with Space X.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

Space-X is still a really amazing company. The engineering feats have been truly phenomenal. I'm curious to see if the alleged toxic work culture (100 hour weeks are expected, that sort of thing), and Musk's distractions and imo, one trick pony management style, will lead to a lower success rate in the future.

I'm not sure... at the moment though they are still on of the best private space companies in the world (i don't have an objective ranking, but their engineering prowess is very well regarded).

 

[J-DONK]

Space-X is still a really amazing company. The engineering feats have been truly phenomenal. I'm curious to see if the alleged toxic work culture (100 hour weeks are expected, that sort of thing), and Musk's distractions and imo, one trick pony management style, will lead to a lower success rate in the future.

I'm not sure... at the moment though they are still on of the best private space companies in the world (i don't have an objective ranking, but their engineering prowess is very well regarded).

I've held the view for a long time that Elon's actually only really gifts were being a hype man, and talent evaluation. He clearly is good at picking competent mangers to actually run these companies, but also attracting top level talent to come work for him.

He really isn't that different from FAANG from horrible work/life balance.

He is a poster boy for undeserved wealth. The dude has been averaging 100+ tweets a day for years. Capital begets capital.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Maybe it was because of DEI hires

 

[bird]

Not possible to care less about Musk.

Confiscate his assets.

 

[Huntn]

Space-X is still a really amazing company. The engineering feats have been truly phenomenal. I'm curious to see if the alleged toxic work culture (100 hour weeks are expected, that sort of thing), and Musk's distractions and imo, one trick pony management style, will lead to a lower success rate in the future.

I'm not sure... at the moment though they are still on of the best private space companies in the world (i don't have an objective ranking, but their engineering prowess is very well regarded).

How’s their fail rate compared to NASA?

 

[Huntn]

Maybe it was because of DEI hires

I put a laugh on this, but it’s disgusting that racists look at people of color and auto cough up blame based on their color.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

How’s their fail rate compared to NASA?

Space-X has a much higher failure rate than NASA. But they have different missions. Space-X has been successful at driving down the costs of existing technologies, and have a higher tolerance for failures.

 

[Huntn]

I've held the view for a long time that Elon's actually only really gifts were being a hype man, and talent evaluation. He clearly is good at picking competent mangers to actually run these companies, but also attracting top level talent to come work for him.

He really isn't that different from FAANG from horrible work/life balance.

He is a poster boy for undeserved wealth. The dude has been averaging 100+ tweets a day for years. Capital begets capital.

My understanding is he’s not either a scientist or engineer, he approves or disapproves, or is busy wrecking Federal agencies, and that’s not him either directly, just tired smashers.

 

[Huntn]

Space-X has a much higher failure rate than NASA. But they have different missions. Space-X has been successful at driving down the costs of existing technologies, and have a higher tolerance for failures.

Guess it will be a long while before people ride them as a matter of routine. I’m disgusted by him, he’s an egomaniac. I guess that’s what $billions do to your soul. I thought the space race would benefit society. Now I see it benefiting the relatively few people of wealth as that’s what the Bs and Os are all about. This benefit will likely mostly be felt in their bunkers when the surface is no longer habitable.

 

[Sendai]

Space-X has a much higher failure rate than NASA. But they have different missions. Space-X has been successful at driving down the costs of existing technologies, and have a higher tolerance for failures.

“Rockets from the Falcon 9 family have a success rate of 99.34% and have been launched 458 times over 15 years, resulting in 455 full successes, two in-flight failures (SpaceX CRS-7 and Starlink Group 9–3), one pre-flight failure (AMOS-6 while being prepared for an on-pad static fire test), and one partial failure”

A Spacex driving principle in rocket development, and the Starship is in development, is “fail fast, learn faster”. It worked well for the Falcon 9.

These are the people who “catch rockets”.

 

[Dragon]

“Rockets from the Falcon 9 family have a success rate of 99.34% and have been launched 458 times over 15 years, resulting in 455 full successes, two in-flight failures (SpaceX CRS-7 and Starlink Group 9–3), one pre-flight failure (AMOS-6 while being prepared for an on-pad static fire test), and one partial failure”

A Spacex driving principle in rocket development, and the Starship is in development, is “fail fast, learn faster”. It worked well for the Falcon 9.

These are the people who “catch rockets”.

When will that policy cost human lives?

 

[Sendai]

When will that policy cost human lives?

99.34% success is a good indicator of a safe commercial operation.

The flight parameters are designed to protect against that.

 

[bird]

99.34% success is a good indicator of a safe commercial operation.

The flight parameters are designed to protect against that.

Which has nothing to do with Musk and is also technology built upon public sector research.

 

[coldseat]

99.34% success is a good indicator of a safe commercial operation.

The flight parameters are designed to protect against that.

That success rate, if it is accurate, has a lot to do with regulations and oversight from both NASA and the FAA. What happens now that regulations are being eliminated and both of those beuacratic institutions are being hollowed out?

I don't think that will be good for Space X the way Musk seems to think. We already know he's willing to cut corners and always inflates his promises/products.

 

[MT15]

That success rate, if it is accurate, has a lot to do with regulations and oversight from both NASA and the FAA. What happens now that regulations are being eliminated and both of those beuacratic institutions are being hollowed out?

I don't think that will be good for Space X the way Musk seems to think. We already know he's willing to cut corners and always inflates his promises/products.

Yes, Musk - who Sendai seems to champion - has built his company with our tax dollars to the tune of hundreds of billions. And now wants to gut the FAA because they are trying to hold him to account for the failures and safety violations his corporate culture encourages.

He’s a dangerous egomaniac who shouldn’t be wielding the kind of power he is currently over our country or the space company. There’s nothing about Musk to like, IMO.

Over 230 commercial flights in the southeast were diverted or otherwise affected by this last explosion due to the debris falling. It comes one month from the previous explosion which generated fines and grounding by the FAA.

 

[Sendai]

Yes, Musk - who Sendai seems to champion - has built his company with our tax dollars to the tune of hundreds of billions. And now wants to gut the FAA because they are trying to hold him to account for the failures and safety violations his corporate culture encourages.

He’s a dangerous egomaniac who shouldn’t be wielding the kind of power he is currently over our country or the space company. There’s nothing about Musk to like, IMO.

Over 230 commercial flights in the southeast were diverted or otherwise affected by this last explosion due to the debris falling. It comes one month from the previous explosion which generated fines and grounding by the FAA.

I’m a big champion of Spacex and Tesla and their immense technological advancement.

“
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's companies have a variety of contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, highlighting the growing relationship between the tech entrepreneur's ventures and the U.S. military. The contracts include:
SpaceX: Provides launch services to the DoD, including the launch of classified satellites and other payloads. SpaceX's CEO Gwynne Shotwell has said the company has about $22 billion in government contracts. The vast majority of that, about $15 billion, is derived from NASA.

- SpaceX's biggest Pentagon contracts include the $733 million National Security Space Launch contract awarded in October to lift satellites into orbit. The company has been tapped for more Pentagon launch contracts potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars more.
Starlink: The satellite-based internet service, which falls under the SpaceX umbrella, has been used by the Pentagon to provide connectivity in remote and austere environments. Starlink's commercial broadband service has some 7,000 satellites in orbit.

VALUE OF CONTRACTS​

The total value of Musk's companies' contracts with the DoD is estimated to be in the billions of dollars, but the true figure cannot be determined since many of them are classified. The contracts demonstrate the growing importance of private sector technology companies in supporting U.S. military operations and national security initiatives.“

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musks-us-department-defense-contracts-2025-02-11/

“A recent Washington Post analysis found that Elon Musk'scompanies, including Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX, have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits over the past two decades. While Musk has often pushed for cutting government spending, his businesses have benefited enormously from taxpayer money.

Massive Government Support for Musk's Companies​

According to The Post, nearly two-thirds of the funds Musk's businesses received came in just the last five years. In 2024 alone, $6.3 billion in federal and state funds were committed to his ventures, marking a record high.

The money primarily came from contracts with NASA and the Department of Defense, which have relied on SpaceX for space exploration and satellite launches. Tesla, on the other hand, has collected $11.4 billion in regulatory credits designed to encourage electric vehicle production.

How Tesla and SpaceX Benefited​

Tesla, which struggled financially in its early years, secured a $465 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Energy Department in 2010. This helped the company launch the Model S and expand production. Musk later repaid the loan ahead of schedule, but government support continued in other ways. Tesla’s ability to sell emissions credits to other automakers played a huge role in making the company profitable. Without these credits, Tesla would have lost $700 million in 2020 instead of reporting an $862 million profit, according to The Post's analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings.


SpaceX, founded in 2002, received early backing from NASA and the Pentagon, which helped fund rocket development. Even before its first successful launch, NASA awarded SpaceX a $278 million contract in 2006. Over the years, the government has continued investing in SpaceX, with NASA alone contributing $14.9 billion for various space missions.

Musk's Call to End Subsidies—Except for His Own?​

Despite benefiting from public funding, Musk has criticized government subsidies, arguing that the electric vehicle tax credit should be eliminated. While Tesla no longer needs the incentive, Musk's competitors do, and experts say his stance could hurt smaller companies trying to enter the EV market.
Over the next few years, Musk’s companies will continue to hold 52 active federal contracts totaling an additional $11.8 billion, with the majority of the financing coming from the DoD and NASA. The actual amount of government funds supporting Musk’s business endeavors may be substantially greater, though, given a large portion of SpaceX’s defense work is still classified.“

Report Says Elon Musk's Businesses Have Been Awarded $38 Billion In Government Contracts Since 2003. Here's What Taxpayers Are Funding

A recent Washington Post analysis found that Elon Musk's companies, including Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX, have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits over the past two decades. While Musk has often pushed for cutting government spending, his...

finance.yahoo.com

Certainly appears the government derives great benefits from the services of Spacex. As the people do from Tesla. Note the loan to Tesla was fully repaid, early. Side note, Tesla is Open Source.