s it is ready to launch astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in cooperation with NASA

  • Hirom@beehaw.org
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    6 months ago

    I hope they succeed. Access to space shouldn’t depend on a single company, especially one owned by Musk.

    • 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒍@sopuli.xyz
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      6 months ago

      While true, it’s not like there’s a monopoly on the market like in many other fields, I don’t like Musk but he’s a pioneer in many fields, besides SpaceX and Tesla he founded PayPal

      • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        He didnt found paypal, his company was merged with another one that became paypal. He was the CEO of PayPal early on, but was so universally disliked he was booted after 6 months.

        He then took his Paypal money and did invest it in a fledgling startup named Tesla that had a working prototype of an electric sports car based on a Lotus frame. He later sued the actual founders so that he could claim he was a founder.

        SpaceX is there because he had money to fund it and to entice Gwynne Shotwell, a renowed name in aeronautics, to his new space startup. Shes run it the entire time.

        Musk is a “money guy” who lies a lot and has had some lucky hires. Hes a pitch man who has lived his entire life with a silver spoon in his mouth, which makes it easy to gamble on high risk projects.

        Dont buy the hype hes selling.

        • ulkesh@beehaw.org
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          6 months ago

          Yep, he’s not anywhere near the visionary, the inventor, or the genius that he has made sure surrounds his persona in media.

          He got handed money, invested it, and got lucky twice. A monkey could do that with a couple of levers.

          I believed the hype as well, for quite some time. Then I listened to the bullshit he was saying and realized he’s just a copy of Donald Trump or Rupert Murdoch — people who happen to have money and are able to fool millions of other people that they’re intelligent because they happen to have money.

      • packadal@beehaw.org
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        6 months ago

        Well, to get humans to space today you have either the crew dragon on a SpaceX falcon 9, or a Soyouz.

        And relations with Russia are a bit tense nowadays, so if you are not Russian, there are currently no other options than SpaceX.

        Kinda looks like a monopoly, with another actor starting to compete (and SpaceX is historically very competitive on prices, so without huge government subsidies, I doubt Boeing would consider maintaining their crewed vehicle)

        • 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒍@sopuli.xyz
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          6 months ago

          Looks like a monopoly because SpaceX invented that niche and others lag behind RnD-wise, companies like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and other companies behind the American space program are more in monopoly position and were more subsidized by the government than SpaceX ever was