SpaceX launches a mission today for the ISS, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was canceled due to adverse weather conditions.
Dec. 5, 2019
When Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk isn’t smashing bulletproof windows or causing his company’s stock price to fluctuate, he’s sending rockets to space with his interstellar venture SpaceX.
The company’s Dragon spacecraft was scheduled to bring more than two tonnes of supplies and research cargo to the six occupants of the International Space Station currently orbiting the planet. The delay was caused by bad weather high above Florida and currently appears set to launch on Thursday afternoon.
When questioned whether the ISS astronauts would be receiving any holiday surprises, a NASA official declined to confirm, but did note that “Santa’s sleigh is certified for the vacuum of space.”
Despite being separate companies, Tesla and SpaceX are often lumped together under the ‘Elon Musk umbrella’, so one’s success often coincides with the other. Tesla’s stock price remained relatively unchanged following the launch delay.
SpaceX competition…
Much like Tesla’s competition with Ford (NYSE: F), Musk also has a highly ambitious competitor in the private space-travel market: Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE).
These two companies have been leading the new space race in recent years, and while Virgin Galactic entered the public domain back in October, SpaceX is still a private company. Virgin’s stock price has declined by roughly 30% since launch — pardon the pun — but looks set to begin its first round of commercial space tourism ventures in 2020.
SpaceX, on the other hand, has flown 12 times so far in 2019 and hopes to finish the year with 15 flights.
Musk himself will not be present at Kennedy Space Center for the launch today, as he will be defending himself in the second day of a civil defamation suit brought against him after calling a critic a ‘pedo guy’.
There really is never a break from the Elon Musk saga is there?
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