Tag: SpaceX

Musk’s SpaceX Has Deep Ties with U.S. Intelligence Agencies

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Space X Building

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has forged a close relationship with the U.S. military and intelligence community and plans to expand contracts with the government, including a secretive project known as Starshield, The Wall Street Journal reported.

SpaceX has rocketed past the U.S. military and other commercial firms to become a leading entity in the space launch competition, and its success has attracted the attention of major U.S. military and intelligence agencies, according to the outlet. Starshield, just one example of the deepening ties between the commercial and government space, supplies government clients with satellites capable of secure communications and data collection with different kinds of observation units, the WSJ reported, citing a website made public in 2022.

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Biden DOJ Sues SpaceX for Preferring American Citizens over Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Its Hiring Practices

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On Thursday, the Biden Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against SpaceX, accusing the company of discrimination for preferring American citizens over asylum seekers and refugees in its hiring practices.

In its 13-page complaint, the Justice Dept. alleges that SpaceX “routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).”  The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division seeks to force SpaceX to give “fair compensation” to non-citizens that were not hired.

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Elon Musk Tells Tucker Carlson AI Could ‘Absolutely’ Take Control of Civilization

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Elon Musk told Fox News host Tucker Carlson Monday that it was “absolutely” possible for artificial intelligence to take control of civilization and make decisions for people.

“That’s real? It is conceivable that AI could take control and reach a point where you couldn’t turn it off and it would be making the decisions for people?” Carlson, a co-founder of the Daily Caller and Daily Caller News Foundation, asked Musk during an interview that aired Monday.

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Bill Gates Funneled Hundreds of Millions to Organizations Attacking Elon Musk

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New research reveals that Microsoft founder Bill Gates, formerly the world’s wealthiest man, has been donating hundreds of millions of dollars to dark money groups that have been publicly attacking Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the current wealthiest man in the world.

As reported by Breitbart, Gates’ foundation donated to 11 of the 26 organizations that signed onto an open letter last month demanding a boycott of Twitter by its advertisers over Musk’s recent purchase of the company. The report comes from the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO), which traced the money from the signatories of the letter back to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Employees Criticize Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for Being ‘Mostly Male and Overwhelmingly White’

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Jeff Bezos

A letter written by current and former employees of Jeff Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin took aim at the company’s workplace culture.

The letter, posted on website Lioness and written by former Head of Blue Origin Employee Communications Alexandra Abrams along with 20 unnamed current and former employees, criticized the company’s culture and work environment as “stuck in a toxic past.”

“One-hundred percent of the senior technical and program leaders are men,” the employees wrote, bashing the Blue Origin workforce for being “mostly male and overwhelmingly white.”

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The Billionaire Space Race: A Competition Between the World’s Richest Men Is Resurrecting an Industry

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Jeff Bezos became the second billionaire to successfully reach outer space this month when his Blue Origin New Shepard spacecraft exited the atmosphere Tuesday, the latest development in the ongoing space race between Bezos, SpaceX’s Elon Musk, and Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson.

Branson was the first billionaire in space last week when he and several crew members aboard his VSS Unity spaceplane successfully flew to an altitude of 53.5 miles. His company Virgin Galactic, founded in 2004, is developing commercial spacecraft to be used in suborbital flights for those seeking a trip to outer space. Musk’s SpaceX, founded in 2002, has been at the forefront of the private space industry for over a decade, with Musk planning a mission to Mars as early as 2024.

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Wise County Satellite Internet Success for Students Leads to Expansion to Neighboring Counties

Eric Burk

Wise County Public School’s (WCPS) pilot program with SpaceX Starlink to provide satellite internet to rural students has been a success so far, and area officials and legislators are considering expanding the program to neighboring counties. In an April 8 press conference WCPS Director of Technology Scott Kiser provided an update on the program which has helped 45 homes with close to 100 students.

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Wise County Public Schools Brings Satellite Internet to Rural Virginia Students

Eric Burk

Over 800 table-sized satellites constantly falling in orbit at 340 miles above the earth are solving a problem for rural Wise County students, according to data from Wise County, Sky and Telescope and Space.com. The satellites are part of Starlink, a program from private rocket and space hardware company SpaceX that aims to bring high-speed internet to some of the remotest parts of the world. On February 1, 2021, 45 families will have access to the network, thanks to a program developed by the Wise County Public Schools.

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SpaceX Capsule and NASA Crew Make First Splashdown in 45 Years

The Associated Press

Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday in a dramatic, retro-style splashdown, their capsule parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico to close out an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

It was the first splashdown by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The return clears the way for another SpaceX crew launch as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year.

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NASA Opens Investigation Into SpaceX Over Musk Smoking Weed

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by Chris White   NASA is ordering an investigation into SpaceX’s culture and commitment to safety after company CEO Elon Musk took a hit off a marijuana cigarette in September on a livestreamed podcast. The agency’s review will look at both Boeing and SpaceX, both of which are responsible for transporting astronauts to the International Space Station. Officials will examine anything that would impact safety, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed officials. NASA’s move comes after top officials complained after Musk smoked weed on a Sept. 7 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” while attempting to explain why he sometimes gets caught in Twitter battles with his critics. His behavior during the podcast prompted the probe, officials told WaPo. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine reiterated those concerns. He told reporters that the agency wants to reassure the public that transporting astronauts into space is safe. “If I see something that’s inappropriate, the key concern to me is what is the culture that led to that inappropriateness and is NASA involved in that,” he said. “As an agency we’re not just leading ourselves, but our contractors, as well. We need to show the American public that when we put an astronaut on…

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Maverick Musk Eyes $72 Billion Buyout to Take Tesla ‘Private’

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is considering leading a buyout of the electric car maker in a stunning move that would end the maverick company’s eight-year history trading on the stock market. In his typically unorthodox fashion, the eccentric Musk dropped his bombshell on his Twitter account, which he has used as a platform for pranks, vitriol and now for a proposal to pull off one of the biggest buyouts in U.S. history. Musk got the ball rolling Tuesday after the stock market had already been open more than three hours with a tweet announcing he might buy all of Tesla’s stock at $420 per share with no further details. At that price, the buyout would cost nearly $72 billion, based on Tesla’s outstanding stock as of July 27, but it’s unlikely the deal would cost that much because Musk owns a roughly 20 percent stake in the Palo Alto, California, company. He also said he intends to give Tesla’s existing shareholders the option of retaining a stake in the company through a special fund, if they want. “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,” Musk wrote in his first tweet, following up with “good morning” and a smiley…

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SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Launch Was a Joyful Success

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Patience was in short supply during the leg-jiggling, finger-tapping, tension-filled hours before the launch of the Falcon Heavy, which would, if successful, become the most powerful operational rocket on the planet. From thousands of miles away viewers obsessively checked Twitter for live updates from the hundreds of reporters and thousands of visitors who showed up to witness history.

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