6 ms·

Please no. SpaceX is too important to be pulled into the financial mess of Tesla and Solarcity.

by jcfrei 9y ago

newnewpdro 9y ago
SpaceX is the only reason I see Tesla not going bankrupt. Not necessarily by directly funding Tesla, but Musk can certainly prop up Tesla by leveraging SpaceX's success in various ways. Anyone who saw the SpaceX falcon heavy launch should have got the message that SpaceX and Tesla are BFFs.
lifeformed 9y ago
IIRC Musk said that Tesla was supposed to be the cash crop that eventually funds SpaceX.
- otalp 9y ago
  It's far more likely to be the opposite, at least for the next 4-5 years.
- agildehaus 9y ago
  Can you point to the source? I've been a SpaceX fan for a long time and never heard him say that. Starlink, SpaceX's satellite constellation, is the cash crop.
  - marvin 9y ago
    Don’t remember the source, but I’ve heard Musk say this between the lines in an interview. I.e. something along the lines of «you need a lot of money to get humanity to Mars» on questions of Tesla’s long-term profitability.
  - taneq 9y ago
    The more cash crops you have, the merrier!
  - shasheene 9y ago
    > Can you point to the source? I've been a SpaceX fan for a long time and never heard him say that. Source is from the 2016 International Astronautical Congress talk in Mexico [1]: > And I should say also that the main reason I'm personally accumulating assets is in order to fund this. So I really don't have any other motivation for personally accumulating assets, except to be able to make the biggest contribution I can to making life multiplanetary [1] http://shitelonsays.com/transcript/making-humans-a-multiplanetary-species-mexico-city-2016-09-27# http://shitelonsays.com/transcript/making-humans-a-multiplan...
quest88 9y ago
Too important for what?
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  For the second space age. For an industry in space, for getting humanity beyond the confines of this single planet.
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    If we are dependent on a single company to get beyond the confines of a single planet, we are probably stuck here. Kinda why I'm happy NASA still has their own plans, and other competitors are out there too. Hinging everything on one rocket isn't a good idea, and when the shuttle was retired, we ended up without a way to space for years.
    - gliboc 9y ago
      You realize this is not how it works? SpaceX is a pioneer: they show the path, others follow. There is no dependency on innovation. Also, NASA can't do any of this, which is why the US government is giving funds to SpaceX. Plus what about the real dependency of the NASA on political agenda and budget votes?
      - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
        SpaceX also has a real dependency on political agenda and budget votes (as do all of Musk's companies as the case is: Tesla and SolarCity were built heavily on tax incentives from green initiatives, SpaceX depends on funding from NASA, and the Boring Company looks like it's gearing up to cash in on all those "infrastructure" promises everyone in our government's been demanding). Congress can absolutely decide to fund SpaceX less, or charge SpaceX more for use of government facilities, just as easily as they can pull the funding out from under SLS if they choose to. Elon Musk is very good at designing companies built on government handouts. ;) Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that. We are past the "pioneer" stage of space launches: We've done it lots of times. The exciting part is now making space launches cheaper, regular, and more capable. SpaceX is not the only company working on doing those things.

Please no. SpaceX is too important to be pulled into the financial mess of Tesla and Solarcity.

by jcfrei 9y ago

Please no. SpaceX is too important to be pulled into the financial mess of Tesla and Solarcity.

SpaceX is the only reason I see Tesla not going bankrupt. Not necessarily by directly funding Tesla, but Musk can certainly prop up Tesla by leveraging SpaceX's success in various ways. Anyone who saw the SpaceX falcon heavy launch should have got the message that SpaceX and Tesla are BFFs.

lifeformed 9y ago

IIRC Musk said that Tesla was supposed to be the cash crop that eventually funds SpaceX.

otalp 9y ago
It's far more likely to be the opposite, at least for the next 4-5 years.
agildehaus 9y ago
Can you point to the source? I've been a SpaceX fan for a long time and never heard him say that. Starlink, SpaceX's satellite constellation, is the cash crop.
- marvin 9y ago
  Don’t remember the source, but I’ve heard Musk say this between the lines in an interview. I.e. something along the lines of «you need a lot of money to get humanity to Mars» on questions of Tesla’s long-term profitability.
- taneq 9y ago
  The more cash crops you have, the merrier!
- shasheene 9y ago
  > Can you point to the source? I've been a SpaceX fan for a long time and never heard him say that. Source is from the 2016 International Astronautical Congress talk in Mexico [1]: > And I should say also that the main reason I'm personally accumulating assets is in order to fund this. So I really don't have any other motivation for personally accumulating assets, except to be able to make the biggest contribution I can to making life multiplanetary [1] http://shitelonsays.com/transcript/making-humans-a-multiplanetary-species-mexico-city-2016-09-27# http://shitelonsays.com/transcript/making-humans-a-multiplan...

quest88 9y ago

Too important for what?

TeMPOraL 9y ago
For the second space age. For an industry in space, for getting humanity beyond the confines of this single planet.
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  If we are dependent on a single company to get beyond the confines of a single planet, we are probably stuck here. Kinda why I'm happy NASA still has their own plans, and other competitors are out there too. Hinging everything on one rocket isn't a good idea, and when the shuttle was retired, we ended up without a way to space for years.
  - gliboc 9y ago
    You realize this is not how it works? SpaceX is a pioneer: they show the path, others follow. There is no dependency on innovation. Also, NASA can't do any of this, which is why the US government is giving funds to SpaceX. Plus what about the real dependency of the NASA on political agenda and budget votes?
    - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
      SpaceX also has a real dependency on political agenda and budget votes (as do all of Musk's companies as the case is: Tesla and SolarCity were built heavily on tax incentives from green initiatives, SpaceX depends on funding from NASA, and the Boring Company looks like it's gearing up to cash in on all those "infrastructure" promises everyone in our government's been demanding). Congress can absolutely decide to fund SpaceX less, or charge SpaceX more for use of government facilities, just as easily as they can pull the funding out from under SLS if they choose to. Elon Musk is very good at designing companies built on government handouts. ;) Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that. We are past the "pioneer" stage of space launches: We've done it lots of times. The exciting part is now making space launches cheaper, regular, and more capable. SpaceX is not the only company working on doing those things.