Tag: spacex

Boeing’s Starliner to Return From ISS on Wednesday, NASA Shares Live Broadcast Details

Boeing’s Starliner capsule is set to undock from the International Space Station tomorrow on May 25 and will make its return to Earth, landing in the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. NASA has made arrangements to broadcast the upcoming return activities live for the spacecraft. It is said that the spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the space station at 2:36pm ET on Wednesday (12:06am Thursday in India). Starliner was launched on May 19 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, beginning the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission, and successfully docked with the ISS a day later.

Starliner docked next to SpaceX‘s Dragon ship on the space station, making it the first time NASA‘s two commercial crew contractors had capsules attached to the space station. There were no astronauts aboard Starliner, which is designed to ferry people to and from the ISS. However, Starliner’s unscrewed spacecraft recently carried about 800 pounds cargo to the space station. Once NASA certifies the spacecraft, it is expected to carry up to four crew members.

Though the Starliner programme is running years behind schedule, its return to Earth after successful docking on the ISS is a good advance. NASA has lined up several events in the run-up to the touchdown of the spacecraft in New Mexico.

The major events are as follows:

May 24, Tuesday

— 12:55pm ET (10:25pm IST) – Starliner farewell ceremony

— 1:30pm ET (11:00pm IST) – Hatch closure coverage begins

May 25, Wednesday

— 2pm ET (11:30pm IST) – TV coverage begins for undocking

— 5:45pm ET (3:15am IST on Thursday) – Coverage begins for landing in the western US

NASA will also hold a press conference on NASA TV from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston after the touchdown.

Previously, Boeing scheduled a 2019 test flight — known as OFT-1 — but it was cut short due to software problems, preventing the spacecraft from reaching the space station. Another attempt in August last year was also called off due to a technical issue.

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Elon Musk to Discuss Amazon’s Connectivity, Protection With Brazil’s President Bolsonaro on Upcoming Visit

Elon Musk is due to arrive in Brazil on Friday to discuss “connectivity and protection of the Amazon” with far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s government, Communications Minister Fábio Faria announced in a tweet.

Musk’s visit is a boost for Bolsonaro, who has found himself increasingly isolated on the global stage since former US President Donald Trump lost his re-election bid in 2020

The visit by Musk, the SpaceX, and Tesla chief executive who is in talks to buy social network Twitter, comes after he met with Faria in November in Austin, Texas. They spoke about using SpaceX technology to bring the internet to rural schools, and cut back on illegal Amazon deforestation.

Musk is likely to meet with nationalist firebrand Bolsonaro just as his own personal politics drift to the right. On Wednesday, Musk said that he previously voted for Democrats, but he will now vote for Republicans.

“They have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican,” he tweeted.

Bolsonaro, who celebrated Twitter’s announcement of its acceptance of Musk’s initial bid for the company, has been trying for years to lure Tesla to Brazil.

Musk’s visit was first reported by newspaper O Globo. The event he will attend in an upscale hotel near Sao Paulo will also be attended by several businessmen, including Telecom Italia Chief Executive Pietro Labriola and Banco BTG Pactual Andre Esteves, O Globo said.

Bolsonaro was slow to acknowledge US President Joe Biden’s win and has not yet spoken to the Democrat since he took office, seeing relations between the two largest democracies in the Americas chill.

Bolsonaro, who idolises Trump, has also been shunned for his proximity to Russian President Vladimir Putin due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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Elon Musk Denies Allegations That Claimed He Sexually Harassing Flight Attendant on Private Jet in 2016

Billionaire Elon Musk took to Twitter late on Thursday to denounce as “utterly untrue” claims in a news report that he had sexually harassed a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016.

Business Insider reported earlier on Thursday that Musk’s SpaceX paid $250,000 (roughly Rs. 2 crore) in 2018 to settle a sexual harassment claim from an unnamed private jet flight attendant who accused Musk of exposing himself to her.

The article quoted an anonymous person who said she was a friend of the flight attendant. The friend had provided a statement as part of the private settlement process, according to the article.

“I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me ‘exposed’ – describe just one thing, anything at all (scars, tattoos, …) that isn’t known by the public. She won’t be able to do so, because it never happened,” Musk tweeted.

Reuters was not able to verify the Business Insider account. Musk and SpaceX did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on the Business Insider story or on Musk’s tweets.

In addition to allegedly exposing himself, Musk rubbed the flight attendant’s thigh and offered to buy her a horse if she would “do more” during an in-flight massage, Business Insider quoted the friend of the flight attendant as saying.

The flight attendant came to believe that her refusal to accept Musk’s proposal had hurt her opportunities to work at SpaceX and prompted her to hire a lawyer in 2018, according to Business Insider.

The rocket company made the settlement out of court and included a nondisclosure agreement which prevented the flight attendant from speaking about it, Business Insider said. The news site did not name the friend or the flight attendant.

Musk, who is also chief executive of Tesla and is in the midst of a contentious effort to buy Twitter, said on Wednesday that he would vote Republican instead of Democrat, predicting a “dirty tricks campaign against me” would follow.

In the Business Insider article, Musk was quoted as saying the flight attendant’s story was a “politically motivated hit piece” and that there was “a lot more to this story.”

On Thursday evening, Musk first tweeted: “The attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens – this is their standard (despicable) playbook – but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech.” In the initial tweet, he did not specifically mention the allegations in the Business Insider article.

“And, for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue,” Musk added in another tweet.

He also tweeted that the article was meant to interfere with the Twitter acquisition.

Reuters could not immediately reach Business Insider for comment.



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Elon Musk’s SpaceX Said to Become Most Valuable US Startup, Valuation Rises to $125 Billion

Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX is poised to become the most valuable US startup as its valuation rose to over $125 billion (roughly Rs. 9,68,906 crore) in an ongoing share sale in the secondary market, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The shares, which are marketed at about $72 (roughly Rs. 5,580 crore), jumped in valuation from last October, when SpaceX’s shares were sold at $56 (roughly Rs. 4,340) apiece after a 10-1 split and valued the rocket company at $100 billion (roughly Rs. 7,75,125 crore).

No new shares have been issued in the secondary offering, but the company indicated to investors that they may do so later this year, said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified.

The share sale could value SpaceX at over $125 billion (roughly Rs. 9,68,906 crore), surpassing fintech giant Stripe, which was valued at $115 billion (roughly Rs. 8,91,439 crore) in a secondary sale. It could not be learned how many shares have been made available for sale by the company.

It is common for highly valued private companies to offer shares in the secondary market to introduce liquidity for early investors and employees.

Reuters could not determine if Chief Executive Elon Musk, who owns 44 percent of the SpaceX and signed a $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,40,923 crore) deal to acquire Twitter, are among the sellers. Musk is also the chief executive of Tesla. SpaceX did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. The New York Post first reported on the private placement on Monday.

In the capital-intensive business, SpaceX has raised $337.4 million (roughly Rs. 2,615 crore) in December and $1.16 billion (roughly Rs. 8,990 crore) in equity financing last April, according to regulatory filings.

The company competes with former Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos’s space venture Blue Origin and billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic in the burgeoning constellation of commercial rocket ventures. SpaceX has already launched numerous cargo payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), including 19 rocket launches this year alone.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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