Elon Musk's SpaceX makes history by completing Falcon-9's 500th mission
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has reached a landmark achievement, successfully completing its 500th mission to space. The milestone cements SpaceX's place as a leader in the era of reusable rocketry.The 500th launch, which took place at Cape Canaveral, Florida, was celebrated by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and the entire SpaceX team.'Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team for making the impossible possible on the road to rapidly reusable rockets!' Musk declared, highlighting the company's vision of making spaceflight more sustainable and cost-effective.Falcon completes its 500th overall mission! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team for making the impossible possible on the road to rapidly reusable rockets! pic.twitter.com/znQPnAw6az— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 13, 2025advertisement
Since its inaugural flight in 2010, Falcon 9 has revolutionised the space industry with its reusable first-stage boosters, which return to Earth and land vertically for refurbishment and relaunch.This breakthrough has dramatically reduced the cost of access to space and enabled a rapid cadence of launches, supporting everything from commercial satellites to International Space Station resupply missions.The Falcon 9's 500th mission is not just a demonstration of the engineering prowess but also to operational reliability. The rocket's consistent performance has made it the workhorse of SpaceX's fleet, regularly launching Starlink satellites, government payloads, and crewed missions.Its reusability has set new industry standards, with some boosters flying over 20 times.However, SpaceX's achievement comes on the heels of a major postponement of the launch of Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station due to technical issues with the rocket.advertisementFalcon 9, though, remains central to current operations, delivering on SpaceX's promise of frequent and reliable access to orbit.With 500 missions completed, SpaceX has not only made history but also paved the way for a future where space travel is routine, affordable, and sustainable.Must Watch
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Google, Scale AI's largest customer, plans split after Meta deal
Alphabet's Google, the largest customer of Scale AI, plans to cut ties with Scale afternews broke that rival Meta is taking a 49% stake in the AI data-labeling startup, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Google had planned to pay Scale AI about $200 million this year for the human-labeled training data that is crucial for developing technology, including the sophisticated AI models that power Gemini, its ChatGPT competitor, one of the sources said. The search giant already held conversations with several of Scale AI's rivals this week as it seeks to shift away much of that workload, sources added. Scale's loss of significant business comes as Meta takes a big stake in the company, valuing it at $29 billion. Scale was worth $14 billion before the deal. Scale AI intends to keep its business running while its CEO, Alexandr Wang, along with a few employees, move over to Meta. Since its core business is concentrated around a few customers, it could suffer greatly if it loses key customers like Google. In a statement, a Scale AI spokesperson said its business, which spans work with major companies and governments, remains strong, as it is committed to protecting customer data. The company declined to comment on specifics with Google. Scale AI raked in $870 million in revenue in 2024, and Google spent some $150 million on Scale AI's services last year, sources said. Other major tech companies that are customers of Scale's, including Microsoft, are also backing away. Elon Musk's xAI is also looking to exit, one of the sources said. OpenAI decided to pull back from Scale several months ago, according to sources familiar with the matter, though it spends far less money than Google. OpenAI's CFO that the company will continue to work with Scale AI, as one of its many data vendors. Companies that compete with Meta in developing cutting-edge AI models are concerned that doing business with Scale could expose their research priorities and road map to a rival, five sources said. By contracting with Scale AI, customers often share proprietary data as well as prototype products for which Scale's workers are providing data-labeling services. With Meta now taking a 49% stake, AI companies are concerned that one of their chief rivals could gain knowledge about their business strategy and technical blueprints. Google, Microsoft and OpenAI declined to comment. xAI did not respond to a request for comment. The bulk of Scale AI's revenue comes from charging generative AI model makers for providing access to a network of human trainers with specialized knowledge – from historians to scientists, some with doctorate degrees. The humans annotate complex datasets that are used to 'post-train' AI models, and as AI models have become smarter, the demand for the sophisticated human-provided examples has surged, and one annotation could cost as much as $100. Scale also does data-labeling for enterprises like self-driving car companies and the U.S. government, which are likely to stay, according to the sources. But its biggest money-maker is in partnering with generative AI model makers, the sources said. Google had already sought to diversify its data service providers for more than a year, three of the sources said. But Meta's moves this week have led Google to seek to move off Scale AI on all its key contracts, the sources added. Because of the way data-labeling contracts are structured, that process could happen quickly, two sources said. This will provide an opening for Scale AI's rivals to jump in. 'The Meta-Scale deal marks a turning point,' said Jonathan Siddharth, CEO of Turing, a Scale AI competitor. 'Leading AI labs are realizing neutrality is no longer optional, it's essential.' Labelbox, another competitor, will 'probably generate hundreds of millions of new revenue' by the end of the year from customers fleeing Scale, its CEO, Manu Sharma, told Reuters. Handshake, a competitor focusing on building a network of PhDs and experts, saw a surge of workload from top AI labs that compete with Meta. 'Our demand has tripled overnight after the news,' said Garrett Lord, CEO at Handshake. Many AI labs now want to hire in-house data-labelers, which allows their data to remain secure, said Brendan Foody, CEO of Mercor, a startup that in addition to competing directly with Scale AI also builds technology around being able to recruit and vet candidates in an automated way, enabling AI labs to scale up their data labeling operations quickly. Founded in 2016, Scale AI provides vast amounts of labeled data or curated training data, which is crucial for developing sophisticated tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Meta deal will be a boon for Scale AI's investors including Accel and Index Ventures, as well as its current and former employees. As part of the deal, Scale AI's CEO, Wang, will take a top position leading Meta's AI efforts. Meta is fighting the perception that it may have fallen behind in the AI race after its initial set of Llama 4 large language models released in April fell short of performance expectations.
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
Google, Scale AI's largest customer, plans split after Meta deal
Live Events Alphabet's Google, the largest customer of Scale AI, plans to cut ties with Scale after news broke that rival Meta is taking a 49% stake in the AI data-labeling startup, five sources familiar with the matter told had planned to pay Scale AI about $200 million this year for the human-labeled training data that is crucial for developing technology, including the sophisticated AI models that power Gemini, its ChatGPT competitor, one of the sources search giant already held conversations with several of Scale AI's rivals this week as it seeks to shift away much of that workload, sources loss of significant business comes as Meta takes a big stake in the company, valuing it at $29 billion. Scale was worth $14 billion before the deal. Scale AI intends to keep its business running while its CEO, Alexandr Wang, along with a few employees, move over to Meta. Since its core business is concentrated around a few customers, it could suffer greatly if it loses key customers like a statement, a Scale AI spokesperson said its business, which spans work with major companies and governments, remains strong, as it is committed to protecting customer data. The company declined to comment on specifics with AI raked in $870 million in revenue in 2024, and Google spent some $150 million on Scale AI's services last year, sources said. Other major tech companies that are customers of Scale's, including Microsoft, are also backing away. Elon Musk's xAI is also looking to exit, one of the sources said. OpenAI decided to pull back from Scale several months ago, according to sources familiar with the matter, though it spends far less money than Google. OpenAI's CFO that the company will continue to work with Scale AI, as one of its many data that compete with Meta in developing cutting-edge AI models are concerned that doing business with Scale could expose their research priorities and road map to a rival, five sources said. By contracting with Scale AI, customers often share proprietary data as well as prototype products for which Scale's workers are providing data-labeling services. With Meta now taking a 49% stake, AI companies are concerned that one of their chief rivals could gain knowledge about their business strategy and technical Microsoft and OpenAI declined to comment. xAI did not respond to a request for bulk of Scale AI's revenue comes from charging generative AI model makers for providing access to a network of human trainers with specialized knowledge - from historians to scientists, some with doctorate degrees. The humans annotate complex datasets that are used to "post-train" AI models, and as AI models have become smarter, the demand for the sophisticated human-provided examples has surged, and one annotation could cost as much as $ also does data-labeling for enterprises like self-driving car companies and the US government, which are likely to stay, according to the sources. But its biggest money-maker is in partnering with generative AI model makers, the sources had already sought to diversify its data service providers for more than a year, three of the sources said. But Meta's moves this week have led Google to seek to move off Scale AI on all its key contracts, the sources added. Because of the way data-labeling contracts are structured, that process could happen quickly, two sources will provide an opening for Scale AI's rivals to jump in."The Meta-Scale deal marks a turning point," said Jonathan Siddharth, CEO of Turing, a Scale AI competitor. "Leading AI labs are realizing neutrality is no longer optional, it's essential."Labelbox, another competitor, will "probably generate hundreds of millions of new revenue" by the end of the year from customers fleeing Scale, its CEO, Manu Sharma, told a competitor focusing on building a network of PhDs and experts, saw a surge of workload from top AI labs that compete with Meta."Our demand has tripled overnight after the news," said Garrett Lord, CEO at AI labs now want to hire in-house data-labelers, which allows their data to remain secure, said Brendan Foody, CEO of Mercor, a startup that in addition to competing directly with Scale AI also builds technology around being able to recruit and vet candidates in an automated way, enabling AI labs to scale up their data labeling operations in 2016, Scale AI provides vast amounts of labeled data or curated training data, which is crucial for developing sophisticated tools such as OpenAI's Meta deal will be a boon for Scale AI's investors including Accel and Index Ventures, as well as its current and former part of the deal, Scale AI's CEO, Wang, will take a top position leading Meta's AI efforts. Meta is fighting the perception that it may have fallen behind in the AI race after its initial set of Llama 4 large language models released in April fell short of performance expectations.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Trump-Musk feud continues? White House orders review of SpaceX contracts after fallout: Report
The White House instructed the Defense Department and Nasa earlier this month to examine details of contracts worth billions following President Donald Trump's public disagreement with , according to four sources familiar with the directive who spoke to Reuters. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The administration instructed these agencies to examine Musk's contracts to prepare potential actions against the entrepreneur and his enterprises, these sources indicated. Pentagon officials are also evaluating whether to limit SpaceX's involvement in a new American missile defence initiative, as Reuters reported on Thursday. While the ultimate intention regarding SpaceX's current federal contracts worth approximately $22 billion remains unclear, the assessment will mark the administration's follow-through on Trump's June 6 statement to journalists aboard Air Force One, where he mentioned possible termination of business and subsidies for Musk's ventures, stating "We'll take a look at everything." A White House spokesperson, responding via email to Reuters, avoided specific questions about Musk's operations, stating the "Trump administration is committed to a rigorous review process for all bids and contracts." Nasa's spokesperson separately indicated the agency would maintain collaboration with industry partners to achieve presidential space objectives. Sources familiar with the directive indicated the contract review aims to enable swift administrative action should Trump decide to move against Musk, who previously served as a senior presidential adviser and led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). One source characterised the review as "for political ammunition." The feasibility of legally cancelling existing contracts remains uncertain. However, the situation highlights governance experts' worries about political and personal influences potentially affecting government spending, national security and public interest matters. Another Reuters report on Friday cited three people familiar with the project, claiming that the feud called into question the role of Musk's SpaceX in the new US missile defense system. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Until recently, the White House considered a plan for SpaceX, Musk's rocket and satellite venture, to partner with software maker Palantir and drone builder Anduril to construct crucial elements of the project, dubbed "Golden Dome. " These people said the administration instructed the Pentagon to prioritize a network of satellites for the purpose. A new framework aimed at tracking and preventing potential missile attacks against the United States is currently under consideration, which could reduce SpaceX's involvement. Three individuals stated that one option might initially forego SpaceX's satellite capabilities to focus on expanding existing ground-based missile defence systems instead. Scott Amey, a contracting specialist at Washington's Project on Government Oversight, noted the situation's paradox, where Musk's contracts face similar subjective political scrutiny that his DOGE team applied to numerous other contracts, emphasising that decisions should prioritise public and national security interests over personal disputes. SpaceX has become essential to American government aerospace and defence operations, managing satellite launches and potentially overseeing a crucial component of Trump's "Golden Dome" missile defence system. Despite Musk's recent attempts to moderate his presidential criticisms, including his (now-deleted posts) impeachment call and allegations linking Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his outbursts highlighted government dependence on SpaceX. Before his reversal, Musk suggested decommissioning the Dragon spacecraft, currently America's sole means of transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station under a £5 billion Nasa contract. Additionally, SpaceX is developing a classified satellite network for the National Reconnaissance Office, strengthening its relationship with American defence and intelligence communities. The feud between Musk and Trump intensified after the Tesla owner criticised Trump's key domestic bill, describing it as a 'disgusting abomination' and alleging that Trump's name appeared in unreleased Jeffrey Epstein files—a post Musk subsequently deleted. In response, Trump called Musk 'a big-time drug addict' and mocked his appearance during a recent Oval Office visit. However, the tensions seemed to ease when Musk expressed "regret" saying he went too far. 'I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,' Musk wrote Wednesday on the platform he owns. In response, the White House signalled a possible softening of tone. 'The President acknowledged the statement that Elon put out this morning, and he is appreciative of it,' Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
