Confirmed: SpaceX valuation hits $180 billion, based on the latest secondary sale process at $97 a share, per a CNBC source familiar with the discussions.https://t.co/NOLu0DRTnt

— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) December 13, 2023

Quote:

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The company is discussing an agreement with investors to sell stock from insiders in a purchase offer at $97 a share, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The offer does not include raising new capital, as the purchase offer represents a secondary sale of existing shares and is expected to close in January.

SpaceX typically performs these secondary rounds about twice a year, to give employees and other company shareholders a chance to sell stock. The latest valuation represents a 20% increase from SpaceX's previous high of $150 billion, which the company hit through a July secondary sale at $81 a share.

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More local press, with vehicle integration and checkout still ongoing and site interviews happening. Less than a month away!

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/space/lunar-lander-moon-launch/

FJB

I meant to post that yesterday, thx. Interesting to say the least how that has advanced so far.

Rudolf is riding the front of the SPMT. pic.twitter.com/GaQbJfWR1Z

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) December 14, 2023

Not as fun:

r o l l b a c k

SpaceX personnel at LC-39A prepare Falcon Heavy for rollback into the HIF - additional work is needed before launch.

📸 - @NASASpaceflight pic.twitter.com/COicRHUsbY

— Max Evans (@_mgde_) December 13, 2023

No need for a sub-orbital pad now:

Crews worked to fix the Ship QD and its mount, the Booster QD was tested, and scrapping of Suborbital Pad A began.

Video from Sean (@SeanKD_Photos), and Starbase Live for @NASASpaceflight.

➡️ https://t.co/ij6SC1z7ai pic.twitter.com/ZGa4Fx9aJF

— Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) December 13, 2023

OLT 2 starting to make it's way toward starbase from Florida?

Starship Integration Tower #2 in the process of making its way to the KSC turn basin this morning!

You can tell this thing has had a bit of a touch up paint job before rolling out.

Hopefully we start to see ground work for the new tower soon at Starbase

📸: @LabPadre pic.twitter.com/1T2KPAj10M

— Zack Golden (@CSI_Starbase) December 15, 2023

https://spacenews.com/federal-agencies-caught-in-environmental-crossfire-over-starship-launches/

TexAgs91 said:

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I miss America. It never would have let what is happening to Elon Musk and SpaceX go on. This burgeoning Marxist ****hole country that has replaced it absolutely would sabotage any advantage SpaceX is giving them for power over Elon.

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Elon could prob cut a deal and take his business to another country, I don't think the US would want this, I bet you see him coming out in the news soon saying he will move his operations to another country to get them to back off with all the un necessary pressure

fullback44 said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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I miss America. It never would have let what is happening to Elon Musk and SpaceX go on. This burgeoning Marxist ****hole country that has replaced it absolutely would sabotage any advantage SpaceX is giving them for power over Elon.

---

Elon could prob cut a deal and take his business to another country, I don't think the US would want this, I bet you see him coming out in the news soon saying he will move his operations to another country to get them to back off with all the un necessary pressure

---

That would violate ITAR laws and subject Musk to jail time along with any other employees that shared protected technical data with foreigners. I think that if SpaceX wasn't in the rocket business, then he likely would have already left.

All of the Nasa quotes are actually good in that though, it's just the plaintiff for the communist green whacko's that is negative of course. I don't think they will succeed with such lawsuits. FWS isn't really used to this level of scrutiny but it's also true that after two launches there aren't a lot of…dead birds/animals etc.

aTmAg said:

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fullback44 said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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I miss America. It never would have let what is happening to Elon Musk and SpaceX go on. This burgeoning Marxist ****hole country that has replaced it absolutely would sabotage any advantage SpaceX is giving them for power over Elon.

---

Elon could prob cut a deal and take his business to another country, I don't think the US would want this, I bet you see him coming out in the news soon saying he will move his operations to another country to get them to back off with all the un necessary pressure

---

That would violate ITAR laws and subject Musk to jail time along with any other employees that shared protected technical data with foreigners. I think that if SpaceX wasn't in the rocket business, then he likely would have already left.

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So basically they want Musk to fall in line but they still need his services for all these NASA / special projects. Maybe this is all a front to act like they are putting pressure? I've wondered how much or if they do a lot of "secret" type work? I would bet we have some pretty interesting space technology that we can't be letting other countries know about .. I bet some really cool space weapons too.. you read / hear about some really wild stuff onLine, some of that may be true ?

nortex97 said:

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All of the Nasa quotes are actually good in that though, it's just the plaintiff for the communist green whacko's that is negative of course. I don't think they will succeed with such lawsuits. FWS isn't really used to this level of scrutiny but it's also true that after two launches there aren't a lot of…dead birds/animals etc.

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Yeah I thought the same. Fairly positive article.

aTmAg said:

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fullback44 said:

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TexAgs91 said:

---

I miss America. It never would have let what is happening to Elon Musk and SpaceX go on. This burgeoning Marxist ****hole country that has replaced it absolutely would sabotage any advantage SpaceX is giving them for power over Elon.

---

Elon could prob cut a deal and take his business to another country, I don't think the US would want this, I bet you see him coming out in the news soon saying he will move his operations to another country to get them to back off with all the un necessary pressure

---

That would violate ITAR laws and subject Musk to jail time along with any other employees that shared protected technical data with foreigners. I think that if SpaceX wasn't in the rocket business, then he likely would have already left.

---

He would have to relocate with no access to any SpaceX material and start over from scratch. If he were 35 he might consider it but I'm not sure he's interested in spending 15 years recreating what he has already achieved. And there are no guarantees a new design team could produce an engine equal to the Raptor.

Elon is stuck here. The scary part is that the government has no interest in Mars so once the super heavy flies reliably, Elon loses any leverage he may have.

If he's made enough enemies, Artemis III may be his last achievement.

lb3 said:

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aTmAg said:

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fullback44 said:

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TexAgs91 said:

---

I miss America. It never would have let what is happening to Elon Musk and SpaceX go on. This burgeoning Marxist ****hole country that has replaced it absolutely would sabotage any advantage SpaceX is giving them for power over Elon.

---

Elon could prob cut a deal and take his business to another country, I don't think the US would want this, I bet you see him coming out in the news soon saying he will move his operations to another country to get them to back off with all the un necessary pressure

---

That would violate ITAR laws and subject Musk to jail time along with any other employees that shared protected technical data with foreigners. I think that if SpaceX wasn't in the rocket business, then he likely would have already left.

---

He would have to relocate with no access to any SpaceX material and start over from scratch. If he were 35 he might consider it but I'm not sure he's interested in spending 15 years recreating what he has already achieved. And there are no guarantees a new design team could produce an engine equal to the Raptor.

Elon is stuck here. The scary part is that the government has no interest in Mars so once the super heavy flies reliably, Elon loses any leverage he may have.

If he's made enough enemies, Artemis III may be his last achievement.

---

I don't think even starting from scratch would count. He still has ITAR protected knowledge in his head. And if he uses any of that knowledge then he's still screwed. I think he would have to revoke his citizenship, and possibly move to a country that doesn't extradite to the US (as the USG would probably still go after him).

But he does still have leverage. The military is still very interested in using his rockets to send their payloads and they spend more on space than NASA.

Once Super Heavy flies reliably, SpaceX could basically be nationalized (shareholder revolt and lawfare used to squeeze Elon out). The military wants the launch capability, not Elon.

It's not even as simple as moving to a non-extradition country, hiring fresh new foreign engineers, and starting it over. He'd have to sell his interests in Boring, SpaceX, Tesla, etc. as well. And without PE $$$ it would be exceptionally expensive to try to 'colonize mars' privately after those fire sales without American capital/financial market backing.

As in, impossible/non-starter, without the explicit/direct backing of a large government (China/Russia), which I kinda suspect he's not a big fan of. He also enjoys hobnobbing with the rich and powerful here, and that might be a big part of his psychological motivation, frankly. He'd lose all of that if he became a pariah in a place like Kazakhstan.

lb3 said:

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Once Super Heavy flies reliably, SpaceX could basically be nationalized (shareholder revolt and lawfare used to squeeze Elon out). The military wants the launch capability, not Elon.

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Despite democrat's attempts, we aren't Venezuela yet. This SCOTUS would never allow such a thing.

SpaceX is private and Musk owns 78.3% of the voting shares. No shareholder revolt can happen in that situation.

How would that work when it comes to his shares though? He would still have a sizable interest in the company

nortex97 said:

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It's not even as simple as moving to a non-extradition country, hiring fresh new foreign engineers, and starting it over. He'd have to sell his interests in Boring, SpaceX, Tesla, etc. as well. And without PE $$$ it would be exceptionally expensive to try to 'colonize mars' privately after those fire sales without American capital/financial market backing.

As in, impossible/non-starter, without the explicit/direct backing of a large government (China/Russia), which I kinda suspect he's not a big fan of. He also enjoys hobnobbing with the rich and powerful here, and that might be a big part of his psychological motivation, frankly. He'd lose all of that if he became a pariah in a place like Kazakhstan.

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I was arguing that it was harder, not easier. Basically impossible.

Though I don't think he would have to sell his interests. Foreigners are allowed to own American stock. But his new company would have to compete against SpaceX which is a juggernaut now. He would have to somehow destroy his own company and their IP first. So not going to happen.

Sea Speed said:

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How would that work when it comes to his shares though? He would still have a sizable interest in the company

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The easiest way is to bankrupt SpaceX by burying them in a blizzard of government fines and civil lawsuits with woke juries issuing trillion dollar awards.

If a bankruptcy judge can award new GM shares to labor, bypassing more senior lien holders, anything is possible.

Assassination is always another option.

nortex97 said:

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All of the Nasa quotes are actually good in that though, it's just the plaintiff for the communist green whacko's that is negative of course. I don't think they will succeed with such lawsuits. FWS isn't really used to this level of scrutiny but it's also true that after two launches there aren't a lot of…dead birds/animals etc.

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Yeah, NASA has been good because they actually understand how revolutionary Starship is. They haven't gotten a call yet from The Party explaining things to them. I think that's only a matter of time.

lb3 said:

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aTmAg said:

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fullback44 said:

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TexAgs91 said:

---

I miss America. It never would have let what is happening to Elon Musk and SpaceX go on. This burgeoning Marxist ****hole country that has replaced it absolutely would sabotage any advantage SpaceX is giving them for power over Elon.

---

Elon could prob cut a deal and take his business to another country, I don't think the US would want this, I bet you see him coming out in the news soon saying he will move his operations to another country to get them to back off with all the un necessary pressure

---

That would violate ITAR laws and subject Musk to jail time along with any other employees that shared protected technical data with foreigners. I think that if SpaceX wasn't in the rocket business, then he likely would have already left.

---

He would have to relocate with no access to any SpaceX material and start over from scratch. If he were 35 he might consider it but I'm not sure he's interested in spending 15 years recreating what he has already achieved. And there are no guarantees a new design team could produce an engine equal to the Raptor.

Elon is stuck here. The scary part is that the government has no interest in Mars so once the super heavy flies reliably, Elon loses any leverage he may have.

If he's made enough enemies, Artemis III may be his last achievement.

---

I agree except that if SpaceX has reached a point where they can take part in the Artemis III mission, they will have the technology, and the money (from all their projects) to go to Mars on their own. IF the government doesn't hold them back.

If we have a friendly administration while that is going on, I think if NASA sees that SpaceX is going to make a serious run at Mars, they will again declare that Mars is their goal so that they can "lead" SpaceX there and take credit.

aTmAg said:

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lb3 said:

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aTmAg said:

---

fullback44 said:

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TexAgs91 said:

---

I miss America. It never would have let what is happening to Elon Musk and SpaceX go on. This burgeoning Marxist ****hole country that has replaced it absolutely would sabotage any advantage SpaceX is giving them for power over Elon.

---

Elon could prob cut a deal and take his business to another country, I don't think the US would want this, I bet you see him coming out in the news soon saying he will move his operations to another country to get them to back off with all the un necessary pressure

---

That would violate ITAR laws and subject Musk to jail time along with any other employees that shared protected technical data with foreigners. I think that if SpaceX wasn't in the rocket business, then he likely would have already left.

---

He would have to relocate with no access to any SpaceX material and start over from scratch. If he were 35 he might consider it but I'm not sure he's interested in spending 15 years recreating what he has already achieved. And there are no guarantees a new design team could produce an engine equal to the Raptor.

Elon is stuck here. The scary part is that the government has no interest in Mars so once the super heavy flies reliably, Elon loses any leverage he may have.

If he's made enough enemies, Artemis III may be his last achievement.

---

I don't think even starting from scratch would count. He still has ITAR protected knowledge in his head. And if he uses any of that knowledge then he's still screwed. I think he would have to revoke his citizenship, and possibly move to a country that doesn't extradite to the US (as the USG would probably still go after him).

But he does still have leverage. The military is still very interested in using his rockets to send their payloads and they spend more on space than NASA.

---

The military is a prime example of how The Party will happily trade whatever advantage they have for their version of power. We've already seen them doing this. A 'woke' military filled with people (US or otherwise) aligned with their woke vision is their ultimate goal because it given them power over us. And all the things we consider epic failures that result from that will not deter them. Elon is a turd in their punchbowl.

Mars is 10 years and hundreds of launches out. Both parties will hold power and purse strings likely at various times. Hopefully the commies decide to go all in on it as Artemis will prove unable to really grow any more in a few years. We and politicians need more than one or two launches a year.

nortex97 said:

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Mars is 10 years and hundreds of launches out. Both parties will hold power and purse strings likely at various times. Hopefully the commies decide to go all in on it as Artemis will prove unable to really grow any more in a few years. We and politicians need more than one or two launches a year.

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I have more of a wait-and-see approach on whether this country still has free and fair elections. The last two were not promising at all.

Yeah, that's fair.

PJYoung said:

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Lol 14 new posts so I stupidly thought something big had happened.

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Nope, just a bunch of conspiracy BS

Turns out attempting to analyze booster engine failure after hotstaging is far more difficult than one would think.

Such a complex topic that requires a huge amount of background intro. It’s probably be a good idea for viewers to do a bit of homework before part 2 of our IFT-2… https://t.co/Q6pFLtdWd3

— Zack Golden (@CSI_Starbase) December 17, 2023

This informed speculation from the bleacher seats is a bit much for me but interesting anyway…(liquid methane sump below lox):

Quote:

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Our understanding leads us to believe there are...
[ol]

40 Valves for the outer 20 Raptor Engines
[ol]

20 for Liquid Methane main tank supply.

20 for Liquid Oxygen main tank supply.

[/ol]

39 Valves for the inner 13 Raptor Engines
[ol]

13 for Liquid Methane main tank supply.

13 for Liquid Oxygen main tank supply.

13 for Liquid Oxygen landing tank supply.

[/ol][/ol]

---

It really is just another reminder as to how audacious this design is for 33 1st stage engines, with hot staging for separation, of full flow staged combustion raptors.

Quote:

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Main Propellant Valves

Pipes only get you so far, and you need to have a way to stop propellant from flowing through certain pipes. Our understanding of the Booster design leads us to believe that there are roughly 79 primary propellant flow valves in the aft section of Super Heavy.

The valves used in Starship are quite hidden away, and they really are quite impressive when you think about it. These valves need to be able to operate under cryogenic and ambient conditions, which can be a difficult task.

---

This is apparently a liquid methane valve. That would handle…a lot of methane.

Pardon the interruption and all that, as I know many of us (myself included) are tremendously disillusioned with our national space program since the Apollo program at least, but this is really well done;

Super Heavy Booster 10 rolled out to the launch complex this morning joining Starship 28 and is being moved into position for a lift onto the orbital launch mount for pre-launch testing.

12/18/23https://t.co/qn7TnVyZhR pic.twitter.com/re1nwSOWRj

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) December 18, 2023

Booster 9 rolled to the launch pad 3 months after the 1st launch. Booster 10 is at the pad just a month after launch #2.

Starship had a successful spin prime test over the weekend.

Ship 28, next in line for flight on IFT-3, was rolled to Pad B and began engine testing. Meanwhile, SpaceX continued scrapping Pad A, the new additions to the Orbital Tank Farm were tested, and a drone show was held at Isla Blanca Park.

➡️https://t.co/vFIQAhukc4

Video from… pic.twitter.com/lfMarlQ8eb

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) December 17, 2023

Feels like a January launch to me!

Will be curious if any changes for a revised booster bidet system for OLT2 @ BC vs. the first one.

nortex97 said:

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Will be curious if any changes for a revised booster bidet system for OLT2 @ BC vs. the first one.

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I'm guessing nothing major... Did we get anything from OLT-2 in terms of damage to launch site? Wasn't it practically flawless?