SpaceX plans hundreds of Starship launches under Trump admin
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As the Trump administration approaches the beginning of its term, SpaceX's relationship with the government is anticipated to change, with Musk playing an important role in determining space policy.
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This image provided by SpaceX shows a mega-rocket booster returning to the launch pad to be captured during a test flight on October 13, 2024. (AP)
According to The Wall Street Journal, after pouring over $200 million into Donald Trump's election campaign, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wants to significantly boost the number of launches of the company's massive new rocket during his term.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said Friday she wouldn’t be surprised if the company launched 400 Starships over the next four years. While the spacecraft is still in development, with only five test flights so far, reaching 100 flights per year would likely strain SpaceX’s production capacity and require regulatory changes from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In October, the Europa Clipper spacecraft was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Shotwell expressed hope that the Trump administration and Musk's government efficiency panel could help streamline regulations, noting she spends much of her time working on regulatory issues and advocating for simpler launch requirements.
"Technology is easy. Physics is easy. People are hard," Shotwell added. "And regulator people are the hardest."
On Thursday, the FAA said that it will revise its launch-licensing requirements to satisfy the space industry's concerns while guaranteeing safety and environmental compliance.
As the Trump administration begins its term, SpaceX's relationship with the government is anticipated to change, with Musk playing an important role in determining space policy.
SpaceX, a key contractor for NASA, the Pentagon, and other government agencies, has advocated abolishing the White House National Space Council.
Trump mentioned SpaceX rockets throughout his campaign, and called on the government to collaborate with commercial-space businesses to "revolutionize our ability to access, live in, and develop assets in space."
SpaceX secretly building spy satellite network for US intelligence
Reuters reported in March that SpaceX is reportedly constructing a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a US intelligence agency.
The network, managed by SpaceX's Starshield business unit, operates under a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), responsible for managing spy satellites.
According to Reuters, this initiative showcases SpaceX's significant involvement in US intelligence and military projects, further highlighting the Pentagon's investment in low-Earth orbit satellite systems to bolster ground forces' support.
If successful, this program is expected to enhance the US government and military's capacity to rapidly identify potential targets across the globe.
The contract signals increased confidence from the intelligence community in a company whose owner has previously clashed with the Biden administration.
Although the existence of a $1.8 billion classified contract with SpaceX's Starshield was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, Reuters' reporting revealed that the contract is for a powerful new spy system comprising hundreds of satellites with Earth-imaging capabilities, with the NRO as the collaborating intelligence agency.
Meanwhile, in August, China's state-owned Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) successfully placed 18 satellites into orbit, CCTV reported, as China seeks to rival the United States SpaceX's Starlink.
