Lifeboat Foundation

The eccentric SpaceX CEO gets some flak — but not from Neil deGrasse Tyson.

It was just last month that Elon Musk took to Twitter to unceremoniously announce that he was changing the name of the crew module and rocket booster of SpaceX’s BFR rocket program to “Starship” and “Super Heavy,” respectively. Now, in another spontaneous update from Musk via Twitter, we’re getting our first good look at the Starship section in all its stainless steel glory.

In the early morning hours, Musk tweeted out an image of the top section of the spacecraft with the simple caption “Stainless Steel Starship,” before following up with a few additional details about the progress of the program.

Elon Musk said SpaceX is building a “test hopper” spaceship in Texas that could launch by March or April. The vehicle may help the company reach Mars.

The Loop system from his adjacent Boring Company startup, once up and running, would take vehicles underground on an elevator and then send them zipping along a track to their destination.

An earlier concept of public-transportation-like “skates” based on Tesla chassis was abandoned, apparently, in favor of regular Teslas with the enhanced wheels. Those who tried the tunnel described a very bumpy ride at less than optimum speeds.

Elon Musk said that he would like for Tesla, the electric car maker, to be able to produce a supersonic plane.

Like many Musk announcements, this one is filled with unknowns.

On right now…

Drawn in by Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin’s most recent photos of Port of LA Falcon 9 recovery operations SpaceX is in the midst of, CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter on December 8th to discuss titanium grid fins and – more importantly – answer a miscellaneous handful of questions about the status of BFR’s development.

Marked lately by rapid-fire, wide-reaching changes to BFR’s general structural composite, Musk at long last confirmed what some suspected – now known as Starship/Super Heavy, the BFR program has officially moved away from carbon fiber composites as the primary material of choice for the rocket’s structure and propellant tanks, instead pivoting to what Musk described as a “fairly heavy metal”.

But cool pics of the demo Starship that will fly suborbital hops coming in ~4 weeks.

Continue reading “SpaceX CEO Elon Musk teases new Starship photos and ‘heavy metal’ BFR” »

STOREY COUNTY — The need for more infrastructure and housing is constraining Tesla Motors’ desire to grow its footprint in Northern Nevada, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday.

Musk’s comment came during a technology and innovation summit hosted by Gov. Brian Sandoval at Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 located just outside of Sparks.

Musk said he envisions growing the number of employees at the Nevada factory from roughly 7,000 currently to upward of 20,000 in the future, and more than doubling the physical footprint of the 5.8 million-square-foot lithium-ion battery factory.

Continue reading “Tesla’s Elon Musk describes factors needed to grow company in Nevada” »