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☆ What’s next for SpaceX’s Starship after a dramatic first launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Starship launches for the first time on its Super Heavy booster from Texas on April 20, 2023. Soon after the launch, SpaceX began the process of cleaning up the launchpad and assessing the damage to its infrastructure. Fish and Wildlife Service disclosed this week that the Starship launch started a 3.5-acre fire on land owned by Texas' Boca Chica State Park. A SpaceX Starship prototype stands in a bay at the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on April 18, 2023. As with any rocket-development program, and especially the largest ever assembled, SpaceX's timeline for the next Starship flight is likely to evolve and change.

The pad and surrounding area were cordoned off well in advance of the test, SpaceX said. [1/7] SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft, atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket, explodes after its launch from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on a brief uncrewed test flight near Brownsville, Texas, U.S., April 20, 2023. "Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch," he tweeted. Still even a textbook test flight would have by design ended with crash landings of both portions of the spacecraft at sea.

☆ Elon Musk holds the keys to the moon because SpaceX's Starship megarocket launch is crucial to NASA's return
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The rocket, which NASA has tagged for upcoming missions, is crucial to NASA's return to the moon. The highly anticipated Starship launch will determine whether NASA's Artemis moon program is on track for success. NASA's SLS relies on Starship for the moon landingA Starship prototype being launched. NASA's SLS rocket, by contrast, has a high price tag for the taxpayer: The project has cost $50 billion in development since the program's inception in 2006. All of this makes NASA's SLS a poor competitor to SpaceX's shiny new rocket.

☆ Starlink is key to Ukrainian operations, but the Russians 'will find you' if you use it too long, soldier says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Starlink is key to Ukraine's operations, but if troops use it too long, the Russians can locate them. Soldiers fighting for Ukraine told Defense One that it's a race against time to use the service. The Russians "will find you," Boris told Defense One. Troops say that there are some ways to prevent Russians from interfering with the service, such as placing a Starlink device behind a dirt or concrete barrier to prevent jamming signals. Ukraine has found workarounds to the limitations though and is still using it in support of certain high-risk operations.

☆ SVB Financial accuses FDIC of 'improper actions' to block the firm from accessing $2 billion of its cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Zinya Salfiti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

SVB Financial filed for bankruptcy on Friday. Lawyers for SVB Financial said in the group's first bankruptcy hearing in Manhattan on Tuesday that the FDIC took "improper actions" to block it from accessing its cash, according to a Reuters report. "Not only has the bank been taken, all the cash has been taken," the financial group's lawyer James Bromley said at the hearing. The lawyers also said that the FDIC has stopped communicating with the financial group and has instructed the successor of SVB to claw back transfers that SVB Financial had made to other accounts, the WSJ first reported. SVB Financial lost access to its deposits one day before it filed for bankruptcy protection, the lawyers added.

California banking regulators on March 10 closed Silicon Valley Bank in the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. Kurt Gwynne, an attorney for the FDIC as receiver for Silicon Valley Bank, disputed at Tuesday's hearing that regulators had done anything improper. Destroyed SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) logo is seen in this illustration taken March 13, 2023. Glenn said he was prepared to allow SVB Financial to use up to $100 million for investment activity. Silicon Valley Bank was SVB Financial's largest asset, accounting for more than $15.5 billion of SVB Financial's $19.7 billion in total assets.

☆ Elon Musk's Starlink is aiding criminal mining efforts in Brazil's Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Starlink kits are being used for illegal mining efforts in Brazil, per the Associated Press. In Brazil, Starlink internet terminals have done just that. "You can manage hundreds of mining sites without ever setting foot in one." Before Starlink's internet service, illegal miners relied on heavy, stationary antennae, but the internet connection was often unreliable, per the AP. As Musk's Starlink service becomes more and more widespread, cases of misuse are to be expected.

☆ Why SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket looks unlike anything the company has ever built before
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Rupendra Brahambhatt | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Not only is Starship the world's largest, most powerful rocket, it also looks unlike anything SpaceX has ever built. Veronica G. Cardenas/ReutersThis silver-black color scheme is a vast change from SpaceX's white Falcon 9 rockets or NASA's orange and white Space Launch System. SpaceX's silver rocket made of steelSpaceX's Starship rocket is made of stainless steel. SpaceX's black-studded Starship spacecraftStarship is covered on one side with black tiles to help protect it upon atmospheric re-entry. SPACEXSpaceX wouldn't comment on whether, or not, that's the reasoning for their silver Starship rocket.

☆ Elon Musk and astronaut Scott Kelly debate use of Starlink in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Comments by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell last week reignited the debate around how the company's Starlink hardware and service should be used in the Ukrainian conflict – leading CEO Elon Musk and high-profile former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly to weigh in. Kelly on Saturday called on Musk to "restore the full functionality of your Starlink satellites." In a roundtable conversation after her remarks, Shotwell said that Ukraine using Starlink as a communications system "for the military is fine." She specifically noted reports about Ukraine using Starlink "on drones." Ukrainian soldiers have described using Starlink to connect drones and identify and destroy enemy targets, the Times of London reported in March 2022.

☆ Elon Musk hit back at ex-NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, saying SpaceX's Starlink should not be used to help fight the war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's SpaceX banned Ukraine from using its Starlink internet service for military purposes. Musk has defended his decision, saying Starlink should not be used to fight the war. Kelly tagged Musk in a tweet on Saturday, asking him to "restore the full functionality" of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites in Ukraine. But there have been reports of the Ukrainian military using Starlink on drones. The Times of London reported in March 2022 that a Ukrainian drone unit was using Starlink to help destroy Russian tanks and trucks at night.

☆ SpaceX President Says Satellite-Internet Business Expected to Make Money This Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Micah Maidenberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A top executive at SpaceX said key business lines are making money, discussing how parts of the privately held company are performing. Gwynne Shotwell , who for years has led SpaceX as president alongside Elon Musk, said this week that one of its main rocket-launch offerings that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration relies on had become a moneymaker for the company.

CNN —SpaceX just attempted to ignite all 33 engines in a test fire of its gargantuan Super Heavy rocket booster. The Super Heavy booster started its engines for less than 10 seconds while still strapped to the launchpad. Only 31 engines were lit, however, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed Thursday in a tweet. SpaceX conducted the test fire without the Starship spacecraft mounted on top of the booster. It should be noted that SpaceX is still awaiting a license from the Federal Aviation Administration to move forward with an orbital flight test.

☆ SpaceX successfully test fires Starship booster in last key step before orbital launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SpaceX test fires engines in the towering rocket booster of its Starship prototype on February 9, 2023. SpaceX on Thursday test fired 31 of the 33 engines in the towering rocket booster of its Starship prototype, as the company prepares to launch the rocket to orbit for the first time. Called a "static fire," the milestone test is the final major hurdle before SpaceX tries to launch the nearly 400-foot-tall rocket to space. CEO Elon Musk said in a subsequent tweet that SpaceX turned off one engine before the test and another engine "stopped itself." SpaceX has steadily been building up to the first flight test of its Starship rocket.

☆ SpaceX curbed Ukraine's use of Starlink internet for drones -company president
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - SpaceX has taken steps to prevent Ukraine's military from using the company's Starlink satellite internet service for controlling drones in the region during the country's war with Russia, SpaceX's president said Wednesday. Speaking later with reporters, Shotwell referred to reports that the Ukrainian military had used the Starlink service to control drones. SpaceX has privately shipped truckloads of Starlink terminals to Ukraine, allowing the country's military to communicate by plugging them in and connecting them with the nearly 4,000 satellites SpaceX has launched into low-Earth orbit so far. Governments including the United States and France have paid for other shipments of Starlink terminals on top of those funded privately by SpaceX. Starlink had suffered services outages in Ukraine late last year, for reasons SpaceX did not explain.

☆ SpaceX should choose between Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX (SPACEa.NLB) should choose sides between Ukraine and Russia, a senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday, after the company said it was curbing Kyiv's use of Starlink internet devices for controlling drones. Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, criticised the decision on Twitter, another of billionaire Musk's companies. "SpaceX (Starlink) & Mrs. Shotwell should choose a specific option," he said. Ukraine's military uses thousands of Starlink devices to communicate in the field. Despite the importance of Starlink for Kyiv, Podolyak has criticised Musk more than once since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine says SpaceX needs to pick a side after the company decided Kyiv can't use its Starlink internet for military drones
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted Thursday that SpaceX needs to a pick a side in the war. SpaceX announced Ukraine wouldn't be allowed to use its internet services for military purposes like drones. Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted Thursday that SpaceX must choose to support either Kyiv or Russia after the company said that Ukraine can't use its Starlink internet service for military purposes. Podolyak said SpaceX can either be "on the side" of Ukraine and "the right to freedom" or the company can pick Russia and "its 'right' to kill and seize territories." According to BBC News, SpaceX took steps to limit Ukraine's ability to use the internet service for offensive measures like drones.

☆ SpaceX never intended Starlink internet to be 'weaponized' in Ukraine, says COO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

SpaceX's COO said the company didn't intend Starlink to be "weaponized" amid the war, per reports. Gwynne Shotwell claimed the Ukrainian military had used Starlink internet in "unintentional" ways. Ukraine has used Starlink for drones to help destroy Russian tanks, The Times reported last year. However, Shotwell claimed Ukraine had used Starlink "in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement," according to a report by Space News. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, SpaceX has provided thousands of Starlink dishes to Ukrainians and has helped Ukrainian troops stay online.

☆ Investing in Space: Starship in the D.C. spotlight
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. I'm in D.C. for the 25th annual Commercial Space Transportation conference. CSF executive members are a veritable who's-who of U.S. space companies founded in the 21st century. So why does the space industry care so much about Starship's success (or failure) to reach orbit? Notably relevant to this conference's host, SpaceX still needs a license from the FAA to launch Starship.

☆ SpaceX Limits Ukraine’s Military Use of Starlink Satellite Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Micah Maidenberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—SpaceX has taken steps to limit Ukraine’s use of the company’s satellite-internet connections for military purposes, a top executive at the Elon Musk-founded company said Wednesday. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said SpaceX had worked to restrict the country from using Starlink, as the company’s satellite-internet business is called, for military purposes.

☆ SpaceX employees say they are relieved Elon Musk is focused on Twitter because there is a calmer work environment at the rocket company
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk's focus on Twitter has made SpaceX a calmer place to work, some staff told Bloomberg. Musk's engagement in daily operations at SpaceX could create more work for staff, per the report. Current and former SpaceX staff, who requested to remain anonymous, told Bloomberg that they didn't require Musk's attention every day. When Musk is engaged in daily operations at SpaceX, it could lead to more work for staff, per the report. SpaceX and Twitter didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours.

☆ Elon Musk's private jet hasn't flown to SpaceX's main launch site since he bought Twitter, jet-tracker claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk's private jet hasn't flown to Starbase in almost three months, per jet-tracking data. He has flown to airports near SpaceX HQ in LA, however, and could have used its planes to fly to Starbase. Prior to Musk's Twitter acquisition, Brownsville, Texas was one of the private jet's most frequent destinations, per Sweeney's flight data. However, Musk's private jet has flown to airports near SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California since the Twitter acquisition, including Los Angeles International Airport, Sweeney's data shows. After purchasing Twitter, Musk said his workload jumped from "70 to 80 hours a week to probably 120."

☆ SpaceX raising $750 million at a $137 billion valuation, investors include Andreessen-Horowitz
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk's re-usable rocket maker and satellite internet company, SpaceX, is raising $750 million in a new round of funding that values the company at $137 billion, according to correspondence obtained by CNBC. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX was allowing insiders to sell at $77 per share, which would have put the company's valuation near $140 billion. The company raised more than $2 billion in 2022, including a $250 million round in July, and was valued at $127 billion during an equity round in May, CNBC previously reported. According to an e-mail sent to prospective SpaceX investors, Andreessen Horowitz (also known as a16z) will likely lead the new funding round. A16z also participated in Elon Musk's leveraged buyout of Twitter, a $44 billion deal that closed in late October 2022.

☆ Elon Musk actively searching for a new Twitter CEO, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk Twitter page seen on mobile with his poll to step down as head of TwitterTwitter owner and CEO Elon Musk is searching for a new chief executive of the company, sources told CNBC's David Faber. In court in November, Musk said, "I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time." "The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive," he wrote. Malicious bots or inauthentic accounts may also be able to register a response to a Twitter poll. Sources told Faber that Musk's search for a new CEO has been ongoing and began before the Twitter poll was made.

An image of new Twitter owner Elon Musk is seen surrounded by Twitter logos in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on 08 November, 2022. On Sunday, Twitter's new owner and CEO Elon Musk posted an informal poll of users of the social media platform asking if he should step down as head of the company. In court in November, Musk said, "I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time." "The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive," he wrote. Tesla's largest retail shareholder, Leo Koguan, wrote in a tweet on Dec. 14, that "Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO."

☆ NASA chief: SpaceX leader says Elon Musk’s Twitter drama is ‘nothing to worry about’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

“Tell me that the distraction that Elon might have on Twitter is not going to affect SpaceX,” Nelson, recalling the conversation, said he asked Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and CEO. She’s running SpaceX,” Nelson said. Asked whether he has any concerns about SpaceX, Nelson said, “No, I don’t." NASA pays billions to SpaceX to shuttle astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station. “Look at what SpaceX is delivering in crew and cargo to the space station.”

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