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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.
Euronews
03-03-2025
- Science
- Euronews
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander successfully lands on the Moon
A lander run by the private company Firefly Aerospace and carrying equipment for NASA touched down on the Moon on Sunday. The Blue Ghost lunar lander carried a drill, vacuum and other experiments, the latest feat by a string of companies looking to kickstart business on Earth's satellite ahead of astronaut missions. The lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, aiming for the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin on the Moon's northeastern edge of the near side. Confirmation of a successful touchdown came from the company's Mission Control outside Austin, Texas, following the action some 360,000 kilometers away. 'We're on the Moon,' Mission Control reported, adding the lander was 'stable'. A smooth, upright landing makes Firefly — a startup founded a decade ago — the first private outfit to put a spacecraft on the moon. There have been five other landings on the Moon, all carried out by five states - the US, Russia, China, India and Japan. Two other companies' landers are hot on Blue Ghost's heels, with the next one expected to join it on the moon later this week. Blue Ghost — named after a rare US species of fireflies — had its size and shape going for it. The squat, four-legged lander stands 2 metres tall and 3.5 metres wide, providing extra stability, according to the company. The space agency paid €97 million for the delivery, plus €42 million for the science and tech on board. It's the third mission under NASA's commercial delivery programme, intended to ignite a lunar economy of competing private businesses while scouting around before astronauts show up later this decade. The demos should get two weeks of run time, before lunar daytime ends and the lander shuts down. It carried a vacuum to suck up Moon dirt for analysis and a drill to measure temperature as deep as 3 metres below the surface. Also on board: a device for eliminating abrasive lunar dust — a scourge for NASA's long-ago Apollo moonwalkers, who got it caked all over their spacesuits and equipment. On its way to the Moon, Blue Ghost beamed back exquisite pictures of the home planet. The lander continued to stun once in orbit around the Moon, with detailed shots of its grey pockmarked surface. At the same time, an onboard receiver tracked and acquired signals from the U.S. GPS and European Galileo constellations, an encouraging step forward in navigation for future explorers. More commercial craft are soon set to land on the Moon The landing set the stage for a fresh crush of visitors angling for a piece of lunar business. Another lander — a tall and skinny unit 4 metres tall and built and operated by Houston-based Intuitive Machines — is due to land on the Moon on Thursday. It's aiming for the bottom of the Moon, just 160 kilometers from its south pole. That's closer to the pole than the company got last year with its first lander, which broke a leg and tipped over. Despite the tumble, Intuitive Machines' lander put the US back on the Moon for the first time since NASA astronauts closed out the Apollo programme in 1972. A third lander from the Japanese company ispace is still three months from landing. It shared a rocket ride with Blue Ghost from Cape Canaveral on 15 January, taking a longer, windier route. Like Intuitive Machines, ispace is also attempting to land on the Moon for the second time. Its first lander crashed in 2023. The Moon is littered with wreckage not only from space, but dozens of other failed attempts over the decades. NASA wants to keep up a pace of two private lunar landers a year, realising some missions will fail, said the space agency's top science officer Nicky Fox. Unlike NASA's successful Apollo Moon landings that had billions of dollars behind them and ace astronauts at the helm, private companies operate on a limited budget with robotic craft that must land on their own, said Firefly CEO Jason Kim. Kim said everything went like clockwork. 'We got some Moon dust on our boots," Kim added.
Los Angeles Times
02-03-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Private lunar lander Blue Ghost aces moon touchdown with a special delivery for NASA
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A private lunar lander carrying a drill, vacuum and other experiments for NASA touched down on the moon Sunday, the latest in a string of companies looking to kick-start business on Earth's celestial neighbor ahead of astronaut missions. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, aiming for the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin on the moon's northeastern edge of the near side. Confirmation of successful touchdown came from the company's Mission Control outside Austin, Texas, following the action some 225,000 miles away. 'You all stuck the landing. We're on the moon,' Firefly's Will Coogan, chief engineer for the lander, reported. An upright and stable landing makes Firefly — a startup founded a decade ago — the first private outfit to put a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or falling over. Even countries have faltered, with only five claiming success: Russia, the U.S., China, India and Japan. A half hour after landing, Blue Ghost started to send back pictures from the surface, the first one a selfie somewhat obscured by the sun's glare. The second shot included the home planet, a blue dot glimmering in the blackness of space. Two other companies' landers are hot on Blue Ghost's heels, with the next one expected to join it on the moon later this week. Blue Ghost — named after a rare U.S. species of fireflies — had its size and shape going for it. The squat four-legged lander stands 6-foot-6 tall and 11 feet wide, providing extra stability, according to the company. Launched in mid-January from Florida, the lander carried 10 experiments to the moon for NASA. The space agency paid $101 million for the delivery, plus $44 million for the science and tech on board. It's the third mission under NASA's commercial lunar delivery program, intended to ignite a lunar economy of competing private businesses while scouting around before astronauts show up later this decade. Firefly's Ray Allensworth said the lander skipped over hazards including boulders to land safely. Allensworth said the team continued to analyze the data to figure out the lander's exact position, but all indications suggest it landed within the 328-foot target zone in Mare Crisium. The demos should get two weeks of run time, before lunar daytime ends and the lander shuts down. It carried a vacuum to suck up moon dirt for analysis and a drill to measure temperature as deep as 10 feet below the surface. Also on board: a device for eliminating abrasive lunar dust — a scourge for NASA's long-ago Apollo moonwalkers, who got it caked all over their spacesuits and equipment. On its way to the moon, Blue Ghost beamed back exquisite pictures of the home planet. The lander continued to stun once in orbit around the moon, with detailed shots of the moon's gray pockmarked surface. At the same time, an on-board receiver tracked and acquired signals from the U.S. GPS and European Galileo constellations, an encouraging step forward in navigation for future explorers. The landing set the stage for a fresh crush of visitors angling for a piece of lunar business. Another lander — a tall and skinny 15-footer built and operated by Houston-based Intuitive Machines — is due to land on the moon Thursday. It's aiming for the bottom of the moon, just 100 miles from the south pole. That's closer to the pole than the company got last year with its first lander, which broke a leg and tipped over. Despite the tumble, Intuitive Machines' lander put the U.S. back on the moon for the first time since NASA astronauts closed out the Apollo program in 1972. A third lander from the Japanese company ispace is still three months from landing. It shared a rocket ride with Blue Ghost from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 15, taking a longer, windier route. Like Intuitive Machines, ispace is also attempting to land on the moon for the second time. Its first lander crashed in 2023. The moon is littered with wreckage not only from ispace, but dozens of other failed attempts over the decades. NASA wants to keep up a pace of two private lunar landers a year, realizing some missions will fail, said the space agency's top science officer Nicky Fox. 'It really does open up a whole new way for us to get more science to space and to the moon,' Fox said. Unlike NASA's successful Apollo moon landings that had billions of dollars behind them and ace astronauts at the helm, private companies operate on a limited budget with robotic craft that must land on their own, said Firefly CEO Jason Kim. Kim said everything went like clockwork. 'We got some moon dust on our boots,' Kim said. Dunn writes for the Associated Press.
Boston Globe
02-03-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
Private lunar lander Blue Ghost aces moon touchdown with a special delivery for NASA
'You all stuck the landing. We're on the moon,' Firefly's Will Coogan, chief engineer for the lander, reported. An upright and stable landing makes Firefly — a startup founded a decade ago — the first private outfit to put a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or falling over. Even countries have faltered, with only five claiming success: Russia, the U.S., China, India and Japan. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up A half hour after landing, Blue Ghost started to send back pictures from the surface, the first one a selfie somewhat obscured by the sun's glare. Advertisement Two other companies' landers are hot on Blue Ghost's heels, with the next one expected to join it on the moon later this week. Blue Ghost — named after a rare U.S. species of fireflies — had its size and shape going for it. The squat four-legged lander stands 6-foot-6 (2 meters) tall and 11 feet (3.5 meters) wide, providing extra stability, according to the company. Launched in mid-January from Florida, the lander carried 10 experiments to the moon for NASA. The space agency paid $101 million for the delivery, plus $44 million for the science and tech on board. It's the third mission under NASA's commercial lunar delivery program, intended to ignite a lunar economy of competing private businesses while scouting around before astronauts show up later this decade. Firefly's Ray Allensworth said the lander skipped over hazards including boulders to land safely. Allensworth said the team continued to analyze the data to figure out the lander's exact position, but all indications suggest it landed within the 328-foot (100-meter) target zone in Mare Crisium. Advertisement The demos should get two weeks of run time, before lunar daytime ends and the lander shuts down. It carried a vacuum to suck up moon dirt for analysis and a drill to measure temperature as deep as 10 feet (3 meters) below the surface. Also on board: a device for eliminating abrasive lunar dust — a scourge for NASA's long-ago Apollo moonwalkers, who got it caked all over their spacesuits and equipment. On its way to the moon, Blue Ghost beamed back exquisite pictures of the home planet. The lander continued to stun once in orbit around the moon, with detailed shots of the moon's gray pockmarked surface. At the same time, an on-board receiver tracked and acquired signals from the U.S. GPS and European Galileo constellations, an encouraging step forward in navigation for future explorers. The landing set the stage for a fresh crush of visitors angling for a piece of lunar business. Another lander — a tall and skinny 15-footer (4 meters tall) built and operated by Houston-based Intuitive Machines — is due to land on the moon Thursday. It's aiming for the bottom of the moon, just 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the south pole. That's closer to the pole than the company got last year with its first lander, which broke a leg and tipped over. Despite the tumble, Intuitive Machines' lander put the U.S. back on the moon for the first time since NASA astronauts closed out the Apollo program in 1972. A third lander from the Japanese company ispace is still three months from landing. It shared a rocket ride with Blue Ghost from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 15, taking a longer, windier route. Like Intuitive Machines, ispace is also attempting to land on the moon for the second time. Its first lander crashed in 2023. Advertisement The moon is littered with wreckage not only from ispace, but dozens of other failed attempts over the decades. NASA wants to keep up a pace of two private lunar landers a year, realizing some missions will fail, said the space agency's top science officer Nicky Fox. Unlike NASA's successful Apollo moon landings that had billions of dollars behind them and ace astronauts at the helm, private companies operate on a limited budget with robotic craft that must land on their own, said Firefly CEO Jason Kim. Kim said everything went like clockwork. 'We got some moon dust on our boots,' Kim said. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
