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In a company-wide email, Elon Musk expressed his frustration with the lack of progress SpaceX has made in developing the Raptor engines that power the SpaceX rockets.
The news was first reported by CNBC, who quoted Musk saying, “The Raptor production crisis is much worse than it seemed a few weeks ago. We face the genuine risk of bankruptcy if we cannot achieve a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year.”
SpaceX is developing Starship as a mass-production rocket capable of transporting people and cargo anywhere in the Solar System and is building a factory capable of producing 100 such rockets in a year.
In November, Musk announced that Starship would be launched into orbit for the first time in early 2022, but cautioned that the initial attempt might not be a success.
SpaceX is testing prototypes at its southern Texas facility and has flown multiple short test flights. But to move to orbital launches, the rocket prototypes will have nearly 39 Raptor engines each, and hence engine production needed to be ramped up to meet the deadline.
Earlier this month, former vice president of propulsion Will Heltsley was taken off Raptor development before he left, CNBC reported. In his email, Musk wrote that the company’s leadership was digging into the program’s problems since then.
SpaceX wants Starship to be fully reusable, with both the rocket and its booster capable of landing after a launch and to be recovered for future flights. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets are partially reusable. The company can regularly land and relaunch the boosters but not the upper portion, or stage, of the rocket.
Picture Credits: Business Insider
With inputs from CNBC