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Time of India
13-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
EU faces heat over millions paid to Musk firms
The EU handed over hundreds of millions of euros to companies belonging to the world's richest man, Elon Musk , a key ally of US President Donald Trump and frequent critic of the bloc, a document seen by AFP showed Tuesday. German Green EU lawmaker Daniel Freund sent a letter in March to the European Commission, asking for information about EU funding to Musk-linked businesses. In a response to Freund, the European Commission said it paid around 159 million euros ($176 million) to automaker Tesla to build charging stations for electric cars in 2023. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software [Click Here] Esseps Learn More Undo It also said in 2024, the EU commissioned Musk's SpaceX to launch satellites for the European Galileo satellite system , in a contract worth around $197 million. The commission said it used SpaceX "due to delays in the commissioning of Ariane 6, the standard launch vehicle for Galileo". Live Events The EU also paid Musk's X 630,000 euros for paid advertising on the social media platform until it suspending use of such services in October 2023. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Transatlantic relations have hit historic lows since Trump returned to the White House in January and Musk has attacked the EU's digital laws as censorship. Critics including Freund cite that as good reason for the EU to pull the plug on payments to the tech billionaire. "This man is an outspoken enemy of the EU and our core values. It is unacceptable that we continue to pay the richest man in the world hundreds of millions," Freund said on X.
The Hindu
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
EU faces heat over millions paid to Musk firms
The EU handed over hundreds of millions of euros to companies belonging to the world's richest man, Elon Musk, a key ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and frequent critic of the bloc, a document seen by AFP showed On Tuesday (May 13, 2025). German Green EU lawmaker Daniel Freund sent a letter in March to the European Commission, asking for information about EU funding to Musk-linked businesses. In a response to Mr. Freund, the European Commission said it paid around 159 million euros ($176 million) to automaker Tesla to build charging stations for electric cars in 2023. It also said that in 2024, the EU commissioned Mr. Musk's SpaceX to launch satellites for the European Galileo satellite system, in a contract worth around $197 million. The commission said it used SpaceX 'due to delays in the commissioning of Ariane 6, the standard launch vehicle for Galileo'. The EU also paid Mr. Musk's X 630,000 euros for paid advertising on the social media platform until it suspends the use of such services in October 2023. Transatlantic relations have hit historic lows since Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January and Mr. Musk has attacked the EU's digital laws as censorship. Critics, including Mr. Freund, cite that as good reason for the EU to pull the plug on payments to the tech billionaire. 'This man is an outspoken enemy of the EU and our core values. It is unacceptable that we continue to pay the richest man in the world hundreds of millions,' Mr. Freund said on X.
Local Norway
31-03-2025
- Science
- Local Norway
European orbital rocket crashes in Norway shortly after launch
The Spectrum rocket, developed by German start-up Isar Aerospace, started smoking from its sides, then crashed back to Earth with a powerful explosion just after launching from Norway's Andøya Spaceport in the Arctic, in live video broadcast on YouTube. Isar Aerospace, which had said it did not expect to reach orbit with the launch, said the two-stage rocket fell into the sea, adding that "the launch pad seems to be intact". Andøya Space, the Norwegian public firm that operates the spaceport, said "crisis response" measures had been activated following the "incident". Regional police said no injuries or damage beyond the rocket itself had been reported. Orbital rockets are designed to place loads such as satellites into or beyond Earth's orbit. 'Great success' Ahead of the launch, which had been repeatedly postponed due to weather conditions, Isar Aerospace had downplayed expectations, saying the goal was not to reach orbit in its first attempt. "Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System," said Daniel Metzler, the firm's co-founder and chief executive. In an online press conference following the launch, Metzler insisted Isar was "very well positioned" to take advantage of the rocket-to-satellite market, adding that the company would "make the adjustments that are necessary" to the spacecraft. Two more Spectrum rockets are already in development, the company said. The 28-metre (92-foot) tall, two-metre diameter rocket has a one-tonne carrying capacity, but was unloaded for the test flight. Spectrum's blast-off was the first of an orbital launch vehicle from the European continent, excluding Russia, and Europe's first financed almost exclusively by the private sector. Advertisement "Today is an important day for German and European space travel," said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. "Isar Aerospace can and will make a decisive contribution to securing Europe's independent access to space." A first European orbital launch attempt was made in 2023 by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit. It attempted to use a Boeing 747 to launch a rocket into orbit from southwest England, but failed, and the company folded. 'New Space' Europe has had no access to Russian space stations or launchers since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sent diplomatic relations on a downward spiral. Europe's space industry has also seen delays in the development of the Ariane 6 rocket and the suspension of the Vega-C satellite launcher after an accident. It wasn't until March 6, when the first commercial flight of an Ariane 6 rocket took off from French Guyana, that Europe was able to regain launch independence after several months without its own access to space for heavy payloads. While the US already has giants such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin, in Europe, commercial space activities driven by private companies -- dubbed "New Space" -- are still in their infancy. Advertisement Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 in Munich. Europe is also home to Germany's HyImpulse and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), French groups Latitude and MaiaSpace and Spain's PLD Space, all racing to establish themselves as key players in the sector. Sunday's launch generated "tonnes of data that the teams can now evaluate and learn from", an Isar Aerospace commentator said on the YouTube live stream. In parallel with the development of new rockets, a number of spaceport projects have emerged across Europe, from the Portuguese Azores to the British Shetland Islands, Norway's Andoya and Esrange in neighbouring Sweden, many vying to be the first to launch.
Express Tribune
31-03-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
European orbital rocket crashes after launch
The first orbital rocket launched from continental Europe crashed seconds after blast-off Sunday, in a closely watched test for the continent's bid to build a new space economy. The Spectrum rocket, developed by German start-up Isar Aerospace, started smoking from its sides, then crashed back to Earth with a powerful explosion just after launching from Norway's Andoya Spaceport in the Arctic, in live video broadcast on YouTube. Isar Aerospace, which had said it did not expect to reach orbit with the launch, said the two-stage rocket fell into the sea, adding that "the launch pad seems to be intact". Andoya Space, the Norwegian public firm that operates the spaceport, said "crisis response" measures had been activated following the "incident". Regional police said no injuries or damage beyond the rocket itself had been reported. Orbital rockets are designed to place loads such as satellites into or beyond Earth's orbit. Ahead of the launch, which had been repeatedly postponed due to weather conditions, Isar Aerospace had downplayed expectations, saying the goal was not to reach orbit in its first attempt. "Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System," said Daniel Metzler, the firm's co-founder and chief executive. Two more Spectrum rockets are already in development, the company said. The 28-metre (92-foot) tall, two-metre diameter rocket has a one-tonne carrying capacity, but was unloaded for the test flight. Spectrum's blast-off was the first of an orbital launch vehicle from the European continent, excluding Russia, and Europe's first financed almost exclusively by the private sector. "Today is an important day for German and European space travel," said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. "Isar Aerospace can and will make a decisive contribution to securing Europe's independent access to space." A first European orbital launch attempt was made in 2023 by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit. It attempted to use a Boeing 747 to launch a rocket into orbit from southwest England, but failed, and the company folded. Europe has had no access to Russian space stations or launchers since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sent diplomatic relations on a downward spiral. Europe's space industry has also seen delays in the development of the Ariane 6 rocket and the suspension of the Vega-C satellite launcher after an accident. It wasn't until March 6, when the first commercial flight of an Ariane 6 rocket took off from French Guyana, that Europe was able to regain launch independence after several months without its own access to space. While the US already has giants such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin, in Europe, commercial space activities driven by private companies -- dubbed "New Space" -- are still in their infancy. Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 in Munich. Europe is also home to Germany's HyImpulse and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), French groups Latitude and MaiaSpace and Spain's PLD Space, all racing to establish themselves as key players in the sector.
Gulf Today
30-03-2025
- Business
- Gulf Today
European orbital rocket crashes after launch in Norway
The first orbital rocket launched from continental Europe crashed seconds after blast-off on Sunday, in a closely watched test for the continent's bid to build a new space economy. The Spectrum rocket, developed by German start-up Isar Aerospace, started smoking from its sides, then crashed back to Earth with a powerful explosion just after launching from Norway's Andoya Spaceport in the Arctic, in live video broadcast on YouTube. Isar Aerospace, which had said it did not expect to reach orbit with the launch, said the two-stage rocket fell into the sea, adding that "the launch pad seems to be intact." Andoya Space, the Norwegian public firm that operates the spaceport, said "crisis response" measures had been activated following the "incident." Regional police said no injuries or damage beyond the rocket itself had been reported. Orbital rockets are designed to place loads such as satellites into or beyond Earth's orbit. Spectrum's blast-off was the first of an orbital launch vehicle from the European continent, excluding Russia, and Europe's first financed almost exclusively by the private sector. The launch had been repeatedly postponed due to weather conditions. 'Great success' Isar Aerospace had downplayed expectations ahead of the launch, saying the goal was not to reach orbit in its first attempt. "Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System," said Daniel Metzler, the firm's co-founder and chief executive. The 28-metre (92-foot) tall, two-metre diameter rocket has a one-tonne carrying capacity, but was unloaded for the test flight. A first European orbital launch attempt was made in 2023 by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit. It attempted to use a Boeing 747 to launch a rocket into orbit from southwest England, but failed, and the company folded. 'New Space' Europe has had no access to Russian space stations or launchers since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sent diplomatic relations on a downward spiral. Europe's space industry has also seen delays in the development of the Ariane 6 rocket and the suspension of the Vega-C satellite launcher after an accident. It wasn't until March 6, when the first commercial flight of an Ariane 6 rocket took off from French Guyana, that Europe was able to regain launch independence after several months without its own access to space. While the US already has giants such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin, in Europe, commercial space activities driven by private companies — dubbed "New Space" — are still in their infancy. Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 in Munich. Europe is also home to Germany's HyImpulse and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), French groups Latitude and MaiaSpace and Spain's PLD Space, all racing to establish themselves as key players in the sector. Sunday's launch generated "tonnes of data that the teams can now evaluate and learn from", an Isar Aerospace commentator said on the YouTube live stream. In parallel with the development of new rockets, a number of spaceport projects have emerged across Europe, from the Portuguese Azores to the British Shetland Islands, Norway's Andoya and Esrange in neighbouring Sweden, many vying to be the first to launch. Agence France-Presse
