Latest news with #rockets
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NASA, Pentagon push for SpaceX alternatives amid Trump's feud with Musk
NASA and Pentagon officials moved swiftly this past week to urge competitors to Elon Musk's SpaceX to more quickly develop alternative rockets and spacecraft after President Donald Trump threatened to cancel Space X's contracts and Musk's defiant response. Government officials were especially stunned after Musk responded to Trump with a salvo of his own: SpaceX would stop flying its Dragon spacecraft, a move that would leave the space agency with no way to transport its astronauts to the International Space Station. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. Musk later recanted his threat. But it alarmed officials at NASA, which entrusts SpaceX with the lives of its astronauts, and at the Pentagon, which relies heavily on the company to launch its most sensitive satellites. The worried reaction within space and national security agencies highlights the risks of the government's heavy dependence on SpaceX for crucial tasks, including classified missions. SpaceX, with billions of dollars in government contracts, flies people and cargo to the ISS, launches satellites for the Pentagon and develops satellites used by intelligence agencies. The concerns are compounded by the fact that its competitors have been slow to catch up, leaving SpaceX's dominance largely unchallenged and the government with few options. This account is based on interviews with a dozen people in industry and government who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal deliberations. One NASA official said that watching the feud between Trump and Musk play out on social media Thursday at first was 'entertaining.' But once Musk called for decommissioning Dragon, 'it turned really terrifying.' There was a similar reaction in the Pentagon, where a person said staff officers 'looked at each other and said, 'oh, it's not funny anymore.' There was a realization that we're not watching TV. This is a real issue.' Musk's behavior has worried NASA officials before. In 2018, NASA ordered an investigation into SpaceX's safety culture after Musk appeared to take a small hit of marijuana on the Joe Rogan podcast. But his sudden threat on social media to cut off NASA's access to the orbiting space station, which has cost NASA some $100 billion over its lifespan, 'crossed a line,' one former space agency official said. 'When you realize that he's willing to shut everything down just on an impulse, that kind of behavior and the dependence on him is dangerous. … I can tell you there is deep concern within NASA.' The rift between Musk and Trump was also fueled by the White House's withdrawal of Jared Isaacman's nomination to be NASA administrator. Isaacman had flown to space twice with SpaceX and was seen as closely aligned with Musk. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. Since Thursday's exchange, at least three commercial space companies, RocketLab, Stoke Space and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, have been contacted by government officials about the status of their rockets and when they might be available for government missions, according to four people familiar with the inquiries. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Officials at Sierra Space, which is developing a Dream Chaser spaceplane that could deliver cargo to the space station, were in a meeting with NASA officials on Thursday as the Trump-Musk feud was getting underway. 'Sierra Space stands ready to ensure uninterrupted support for the International Space Station,' Fatih Ozmen, the company's CEO, said in a statement to The Post. He added that 'NASA mentioned to us that they want diversity and do not want to rely on a single provider.' Dream Chaser 'is in final testing and integration at Kennedy Space Center,' Ozmen said. 'We are working closely with NASA leadership to fly the vehicle later this year.' The company is also working on a variant of Dream Chaser to carry astronauts, he said, 'which NASA is studying.' Musk's declaration also rattled staffers on Capitol Hill. A key congressional committee asked about the status of Boeing's Starliner space capsule vehicle, according to a person with knowledge of the inquiry. NASA intends to use Starliner to fly crews to the space station along with SpaceX's Dragon capsule. The spacecraft is years behind schedule, however, and during its first human spaceflight mission to the ISS last summer, it ran into so many problems that NASA decided it was unsafe to return to the crew with Boeing. But with Musk threatening to end Dragon, the congressional aide wanted to know when Starliner would be ready to fly again. In recent months, NASA has said little about the status of Starliner. But in response to reporters' questions, the agency issued a statement late Friday saying that it is planning for a Starliner flight to the space station 'in early 2026, pending system certification and resolution of Starliner's technical issues.' NASA is still evaluating whether the capsule would fly with astronauts on board or with cargo only. Even though he later recanted, Musk's threat to curtail NASA's use of Dragon could be damaging to a company that has been one of the government's most trusted partners, said Todd Harrison, a defense analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. 'It's almost like an embargo of the space station,' he said. 'Musk was saying he is going to cut NASA off from its own laboratory in space.' Harrison said the threat was reminiscent of Musk's refusal to activate the Starlink Internet system so that Ukraine could carry out an attack on Russian forces in 2022. That decision also prompted an outcry that the nation's defenses should not be in the hands of a single person or company. Given that SpaceX has experience operating its Starlink Internet satellite constellation, it had been considered to be a natural choice for Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defense shield, which would rely on swarms of satellites in orbit. But Musk's threat was so impulsive that it will undoubtedly rattle defense officials, Harrison said, who would not look favorably on the 'idea that the nation's missile defenses could be held hostage to the twittering whims of Elon Musk.' For NASA's astronauts, Musk's social media post 'got very personal' because it could impact their ability to fly, said Garrett Reisman, a former NASA astronaut who previously worked at SpaceX. 'We shouldn't overreact to a fit of pique on social media. But when your hopes and dreams are tied up in this, you can't help but think, 'Oh my goodness am I going to fly in space?'' The Pentagon has recently made an effort to broaden the military and space industrial base, allowing for competition to drive down cost and increase innovation. The Space Force last year released a strategy that said the service would seek to avoid 'overreliance on any single provider or solution.' To allow more companies to vie for lucrative space contracts, the Pentagon recently created two 'lanes' of launch competitions. Lane 1 allows new entrants to bid on individual contracts to launch satellites that are smaller and not as vital; Lane 2 would be reserved for more powerful and proven rockets that would hoist satellites that cannot risk failure. SpaceX, however, has continued to dominate those missions. Its Falcon 9 rocket launches at an unprecedented cadence, while those of its competitors, including the United Launch Alliance's Vulcan, Blue Origin's New Glenn and RocketLab's Neutron, are still largely unproven. New Glenn has launched just once; Vulcan twice; Neutron not at all. And even before Musk's social media posting, the Pentagon publicly expressed worry about the pace of Vulcan's development even though it has won certification to fly national security missions. In a statement to the House Armed Services Committee last month, U.S. Space Force Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy said that contractors like ULA must 'establish a culture of accountability, and repair trust deficit to prove to the [Service Acquisition Executive for Space] that they are adopting the acquisition principles necessary to deliver capabilities at speed, on cost and on schedule.' From a legal and practical standpoint, the threats by the president and Musk would be difficult to carry out, said procurement specialists. If either the government or the company opted out, they would face major financial penalties, government procurement experts said. And if the contractor pulled out, it could affect its ability to win future contracts. Still, some had warned about Musk's foray into politics and the consequences for his companies. In an interview last year, Peter Beck, the CEO of RocketLab, which is seeking to compete for national security launch contracts, predicted that Musk's acquisition of Twitter, now X, and time at Trump's side could end up hurting his businesses. 'It certainly makes people uncomfortable,' he said at the time. 'At the end of the day, if you're delivering important national security missions, the buck stops with the CEO.' Related Content To save rhinos, conservationists are removing their horns Donald Trump and the art of the Oval Office confrontation Some advice from LGBTQ elders as WorldPride kicks off amid fears
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
NASA, Pentagon push for SpaceX alternatives amid Trump's feud with Musk
Federal officials at NASA and the Pentagon moved swiftly this week to urge competitors to Elon Musk's SpaceX to more quickly develop alternative rockets and spacecraft after President Donald Trump threatened to cancel Space X's contracts and Musk's defiant response. Government officials were especially stunned after Musk responded to Trump with a salvo of his own: SpaceX would stop flying its Dragon spacecraft, a move that would leave the space agency with no way to transport its astronauts to the International Space Station.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Science
- CTV News
Grade 10 STEM students compete in rocket launch competition
STEM students at W.P. Wagner School will go head-to-head in a launch competition using the rockets they designed and created. Students in the STEM program spent the whole month of May working on perfecting their rockets. Each prototype is built out of different materials, depending on what the students chose. 'We have the luxury of a class called Design Lab, where we work through the design thinking process, and our students work on creative problem solving,' Karly Kulpa, STEM program department head, told CTV News Edmonton. The STEM program focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. During the competition, each student is responsible for launching their own prototype using a pneumatic launcher, a device that uses compressed air to launch something. This is the third year W.P Wagner School has done the project. The winner is determined based on who's rocket launches the highest.
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel army issues evacuation warning for parts of Gaza City
The Israeli military issued an evacuation order for residents of parts of Gaza City on Friday ahead of an attack. 'This is a final and urgent warning ahead of an impending strike,' army spokesman Avichay Adraee said. The army 'will strike all areas from which rockets are launched.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
6 days ago
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad's Fall
The Israeli army said two rockets were fired from Syria into open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, marking the first time a strike has been launched toward Israel from Syrian territory since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December. Syrian state media reported that Israel shelled the western countryside of Syria's Daraa province after the rocket launch. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, also reported Israeli airstrikes that caused 'violent explosions' around the city of Quneitra and in the Daraa countryside. A group calling itself the Mohammed Deif Brigades — named after a Hamas military leader killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza last year — claimed the attack in a post on Telegram. The group first surfaced on social media a few days before. 'Until now, it's just a Telegram channel. It's not known if it is a real group,' said Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed factions in southern Syria. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Israel considers 'the Syrian president directly responsible for every threat and firing toward the State of Israel' and warned of a 'full response' to come 'as soon as possible.' Israel has been suspicious of the former opposition fighters who formed the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory since Assad's fall. Syria's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run TV channel that it has 'not yet verified the accuracy' of the reports of strikes launched from Syria toward Israel. 'We affirm that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region,' the statement said. It condemned the Israeli shelling, which it said had resulted in 'significant human and material losses.' The US, which has warmed to al-Sharaa's government and recently moved to lift some sanctions previously imposed on Syria, has pushed for Syria to normalize relations with Israel. In a recent interview with the Jewish Journal, al-Sharaa said he wants to see a return to a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries but stopped short of proposing immediate normalization, saying that 'peace must be earned through mutual respect, not fear.'
