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SpaceX urges Congress to expedite commercial spaceflight regulation reforms

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Speaking in a Congressional hearing on the morning of June 26th, SpaceX Director of Government Affairs Caryn Schenewerk reaffirmed the company’s commitment to conducting “more than 25 [launches]” in 2018, a feat that will require a ~50% increase in launch frequency over the second half of the year.

Related to the focus of this particular hearing, namely regulatory reform, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-2) appeared to speak for everyone when he mirrored the four panelists’ sense of urgency for beginning the process of reforming federal space launch regulations by asking for an informal meeting outside the doors of the chamber once the session concluded, stating that “it’s that urgent.” In order for companies like SpaceX (and eventually Blue Origin) to be able to sustainably and reliably reach cadences of one launch per week in the near future, the currently cumbersome and dated launch licensing apparatus will almost invariably require significant reforms.

Pressure to remove artificial bottlenecks growing

Two primary problems were identified by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), ULA, Blue Origin, and SpaceX officials present before the Congressional committee: the extreme sluggishness of licensing and the similarly obtuse brute-force integration of launch vehicle operations with the federal systems of air traffic control tasked with safely orchestrating tens of thousands of aircraft flights daily.

Whereas nominal orbital rocket launches result in vehicles like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 spending less than 90 seconds of real time within the bounds of that controlled airspace, the massive and disruptive “keep-out zones” currently required by the FAA for rocket launches frequently disrupt air traffic for more than 100 times as long. According to Ms. Schenewerk, SpaceX believes it already possesses the capabilities to integrate live Falcon 9 and Heavy telemetry with air traffic control, allowing those keep out zones to be dramatically compressed and highly responsive to actual launch operations, similar to how aircraft traffic is dealt with today.

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On the specific launch licensing side of this regulatory coin, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and ULA all expressed distaste for current standards, in which a worst-case scenario could see a launch provider forced to wait more than 200 days (up to eight full months) from the moment of filing to a launch license grant. Worse, even slight adjustments to a granted launch license require launch providers to resubmit themselves to that 200+ day process, effectively making timely modifications undependable exceptions to the rule.

Old rules, new rockets

The real barrier to these common-sense regulatory reforms is quite simply the extraordinary sluggishness of the FAA and those tasked with updating its guidelines and regulatory structures. Rep. Larsen was not exaggerating when he stated that he foresaw Congress choosing to delay those reforms by another 5+ years if given the opportunity, and it was thus likely a relief for the panel of witnesses (PDF) to hear him agree that these reforms must be pursued with the utmost urgency. In its current state, the FAA’s launch licensing is liable to be utterly swamped by the imminent introduction of multiple new smallsat launch providers on top of the already lofty launch cadence ambitions of SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin, as well as Orbital ATK to a lesser extent.

With SpaceX leading the charge, the American launch industry is already a year or more into a true renaissance of American spaceflight, and the FAA is simply not equipped to handle it. If reforms can be completed with haste rarely seen in Congress, the federal government can at a minimum ensure that it does not become a wholly artificial and preventable bottleneck for that explosion of domestic spaceflight activity.

 

Speaking of that activity, SpaceX is scheduled to begin its H2 2018 manifest push with as many as six Falcon 9 launches (five with Block 5 boosters) over the next ~60 days. Barring an abrupt increase in rocket booster production speeds, sources have confirmed that those 2-3 summer months will likely also feature one of the first rapid Falcon 9 Block 5 reuses, potentially seeing one of SpaceX’s highly-reusable rockets complete two orbital launches in approximately one month (30-50 days). That will, of course, depend upon both customer agreeability and the availability of rockets and launch facilities, but the goal of a rapid Block 5 reuse before summer’s end still stands, at least for now.

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Up next is CRS-15, which will see the last orbital Block 4 Falcon 9 launch a flight-proven Cargo Dragon to the ISS with several thousand pounds of supplies in tow, with liftoff scheduled for NET 5:42 am EDT, June 29.

Follow us for live updates, peeks behind the scenes, and photos from Teslarati’s East and West Coast photographers.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Pope Leo XIV slams Elon Musk’s pay package due to misinformation (Opinion)

The Pope’s comments seem to be guided by a misunderstanding of what Elon Musk’s pay package entails.

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Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Pope Leo XIV has voiced sharp criticism of corporate pay structures, singling out Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other business leaders as examples of the widening gap between executives and ordinary workers. The pontiff warned that excessive wealth concentration could erode societal values and fuel global polarization.

Pope Leo XIV’s comments seem to be guided by a misunderstanding of what Elon Musk’s pay package entails, and the net positive it would result to TSLA shareholders and the world as a whole.

Pope Leo XIV’s comments

In his first interview since becoming pope in May, Leo XIV, the first US-born head of the Catholic Church, pointed to reports that Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire. As noted in a report from the Financial Times, Pope Leo XIV singled out Elon Musk as an example of the type of wealth that was undermining “the value of human life, of the family, of the value of society.”

“Yesterday, the news (arrived) that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world. What does that mean, and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has any value any more, then we are in big trouble,” the pontiff stated. 

Musk was not the only executive who caught the ire of the leader of the Catholic Church. He noted that while Musk’s pay was problematic, it was only an example of the “continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive.” 

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“CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times what average workers are receiving,” he stated.

Borne out of misrepresentation

A look at Pope Leo XIV’s comments surrounding Elon Musk’s wealth suggests that he may not necessarily be familiar with how the CEO earns his net worth. Musk’s wealth is tied to his stakes in his companies, with a good portion of it coming from Tesla and SpaceX. Thus, quite unlike what the mainstream media narrative might suggest, Elon Musk does not necessarily have a giant vault of gold coins he is hoarding somewhere.

If one were to look at Elon Musk’s pay package, which would result in him becoming a trillionaire, one would see that the CEO could only earn his keep if he proves immense value to Tesla and its shareholders. 

His payout might be notable, but he would have to lead Tesla into becoming an $8.5 trillion company first. At this level, Tesla would likely be a notable force of good that would provide a net benefit for people worldwide. Ultimately, it appears that Pope Leo XIV’s comments about Musk may be borne from information gathered only through mainstream sources, some of which tend to have a notable slant against the CEO.

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Elon Musk affirms Tesla commitment and grueling work schedule: “Daddy is very much home”

The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated his commitment to the electric vehicle maker and its future projects this week, responding to speculation following his $1 billion purchase of TSLA stock. 

The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market, extending a rally fueled in part by Musk’s TSLA purchase.

Elon Musk’s nonstop work schedule

Amidst the reaction of TSLA stock to Musk’s $1 billion investment, Tesla owners such as @greggertruck noted that “Daddy’s home.” Musk replied, stating that “Daddy is very much home.” He then shared details of a packed weekend of work, which was definitely grueling but completely within character for a “wartime CEO.”

Musk did note, however, that he had lunch with his kids during the weekend despite his extremely busy schedule.

“Daddy is very much home. Am burning the midnight oil with Optimus engineering on Friday night, then redeye overnight to Austin arriving 5am, wake up to have lunch with my kids and then spend all Saturday afternoon in deep technical reviews for the Tesla AI5 chip design. 

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“Fly to Colossus II on Monday to walk the whole datacenter floor, review transformers and power production (excellent progress), depart midnight. Then up to 12 hours of back-to-back meetings across all Tesla departments, but with a particular focus on AI/Autopilot, Optimus production plans, and vehicle production/delivery,” Musk wrote in his post

Wartime CEO

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described Musk as operating in “wartime CEO mode,” highlighting autonomous driving and AI as a trillion-dollar market opportunity for Tesla. Musk reiterated this point late last month as well, when he outlined the several projects he is juggling among his numerous companies. At the time, Musk stated that he was busy with Starship 10, Grok 5, and Tesla V14. This was despite his notable presence on X. 

With Tesla Master Plan Part IV being partly released, the company is entering what could very well be its most ambitious stage to date. To usher in an era of sustainable abundance, Tesla would definitely require a “wartime CEO,” someone who could remain locked in and determined to push through any obstacles to ensure that the company achieves its goals.

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Elon Musk confirms cryptic X post was related to SpaceX, not TSLA stock

Musk shared his update in a post on social media platform X.

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Joel Kowsky, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk has confirmed that a cryptic post he shared earlier this month was related to his private sale enterprise, SpaceX, not electric vehicle maker Tesla. 

Musk shared his update in a post on social media platform X. 

Musk’s cryptic post

Earlier this month, the CEO posted the cryptic words “You’ll Thank Me Later” on X. The post quickly gained attention on social media, as Tesla watchers and Elon Musk fans speculated on what the words could mean. With the announcement that Musk has purchased $1 billion of TSLA stock in the open market, some speculated that the cryptic post was a teaser of sorts to shareholders.

Musk’s massive TSLA purchase was the biggest in history, and it also stood as a notable vote of confidence for the company as it attempts to enter a new era led by robots, AI, and autonomous driving. This was likely one of the reasons why Tesla stock saw a notable rise on Monday’s trading. In another post, however, Musk confirmed that his cryptic post was not in any way related to his stock purchase.

All SpaceX

Considering that all the words in Musk’s post started with an uppercase letter, some space fans immediately speculated that the CEO was teasing something related to SpaceX. The company’s three drone ships, Just Read the Instructions (JRTI), Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY), and A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG), after all, follow similar naming styles. 

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This was one of the reasons why some TSLA shareholders noted on X that Musk’s post was likely SpaceX-related. In response to one of these comments, Musk stated that these speculations are “Correct.”

The only question now is what exactly Musk was referring to in his post. Perhaps the CEO really was hinting at the name of the drone ship that will be tasked to retrieve Starship in the middle of the ocean.

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