The upcoming flight test of SpaceX‘s Starship will be live-streamed only on social media platform X, company CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday, hinting at increased consolidation across his companies.
What Happened: Though Musk is most renowned as the CEO of EV company Tesla, he is also CEO of SpaceX and executive chairman of social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
In a move to consolidate the activities across his portfolio of companies, Musk on Wednesday said that the upcoming flight of SpaceX’s Starship will be streamed solely on X. Previously, the company also used to stream some launches on YouTube.
SpaceX is looking to launch the Starship yet again on June 6. The launch window opens as early as 7 a.m. CT on Thursday.
Starship is touted as the world’s most powerful launch vehicle, standing 121 meters tall and weighing approximately 5,000 tonnes. It consists of two stages: the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket.
For the upcoming test, the company aims to achieve a soft splashdown of the Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and a controlled re-entry and splashdown of the Starship in the Indian Ocean.
During Starship's previous flight test on March 14, the spacecraft lost contact and broke apart while re-entering the atmosphere instead of splashing down in the Indian Ocean as planned. The booster also lost contact before achieving a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The entire flight lasted about an hour.
Other Collaborations Within Musk Universe: This is not the sole collaboration between Musk’s different companies. Earlier this year, Musk said that Tesla’s upcoming Roadster vehicle was enabled by a collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX.
"It's going to be really cool. It's going to have some rocket technology in it," Musk said about the new Roadster. "The only way to do something cooler than the Cybertruck is to combine SpaceX and Tesla technology to create something that's not even really a car." The company will unveil the vehicle at the end of 2024, and deliveries will start in 2025.
Unlike most public companies that actively engage with the media, Tesla does not respond to media queries. It has reportedly not had a dedicated public relations department since October 2020. The broader communication strategy of Tesla relies heavily on Musk and various Tesla handles on X.
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