TheNewsGuru

Tag: Elon Musk

  • SpaceX signs deal with Google for global high-speed Internet connectivity

    SpaceX signs deal with Google for global high-speed Internet connectivity

    Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Thursday signed a deal with Internet giant, Google to provide high-speed broadband internet connectivity around the world.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the deal is to deliver data, cloud services, and applications, leveraging Starlink’s ability to provide high-speed broadband internet.

    Under the deal, SpaceX will locate Starlink ground stations within Google data center properties, providing businesses with seamless, secure access to the cloud and Internet with Google Cloud infrastructure

    This will enable secure, low-latency, and reliable delivery of data from more than 1,500 Starlink satellites launched to orbit to-date to locations at the network edge via Google Cloud.

    Google Cloud’s high-capacity private network will support the delivery of Starlink’s global satellite internet service, bringing businesses and consumers seamless connectivity to the cloud and Internet, and enabling the delivery of critical enterprise applications to virtually any location.

    Organizations with broad footprints, like public sector agencies, businesses with presences at the network edge, or those operating in rural or remote areas, often require access to applications running in the cloud, or to cloud services like analytics, artificial intelligence, or machine learning.

    Connectivity from Starlink’s constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites provides a path for these organizations to deliver data and applications to teams distributed across countries and continents, quickly and securely.

    “Applications and services running in the cloud can be transformative for organizations, whether they’re operating in a highly networked or remote environment,” said Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Infrastructure at Google Cloud.

    “We are delighted to partner with SpaceX to ensure that organizations with distributed footprints have seamless, secure, and fast access to the critical applications and services they need to keep their teams up and running.”

    “Combining Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency broadband with Google’s infrastructure and capabilities provides global organizations with the secure and fast connection that modern organizations expect,” said SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell.

    “We are proud to work with Google to deliver this access to businesses, public sector organizations, and many other groups operating around the world.”

    This new capability, delivered by Google Cloud and Starlink to enterprise customers, is expected to be available in the second half of 2021.

    Recall that the American aerospace manufacturer and space transportations services company had identified Nigeria as a critical market for its business.

    A delegation from the company was in the country recently, and held a meeting with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    SpaceX is in the process of launching a low-earth orbiting (LOE) constellation of satellites to provide low latency, high bandwidths Internet to all corners of the globe and has identified Nigeria as a critical market.

    SpaceX has been in discussion with NCC virtually over the past several months to begin the process of pursuing all necessary licenses to bring Starlink, its satellite-based broadband services to Nigeria.

    Having made substantial progress in the discussion, the Commission granted SpaceX’s request for a face-to-face discussion to gain better insights on the prospects of their proposal.

    Led by SpaceX’s Starlink Market Access Director for Africa, Ryan Goodnight and supported by the company’s consultant, Levin Born, the company provided an overview of its plans, expectations, licensing requests and deployment phases during the meeting.

    After the presentation by the SpaceX team, the NCC emphasised that in light of disruption in the technology world, it is keen on balancing healthy competition with entry of disruptive technologies to ensure sustainable telecoms industry growth and development in Nigeria.

    The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, stated this, represented by NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Ubale Maska.

    He said NCC will work on necessary modalities to ensure that it balances the need for healthy competition vis-a-vis the entry of new technologies, in order to protect all industry stakeholders.

    “As the regulator of a highly dynamic sector in Nigeria, the Commission is conscious of the need to ensure that our regulatory actions are anchored on national interest.

    “We have listened to your presentation and we will review it vis-à-vis our regulatory direction of ensuring effective and a sustainable telecoms ecosystem where a licensee’s operational model does not dampen healthy competition among other licensees,” Maska told the SpaceX delegation.

    Maska further stated that the Commission is interested in making necessary regulatory efforts to drive the coverage of rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country through the accomplishments of the lofty targets contained in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025.

    He noted that the plan’s target of 70 per cent broadband penetration target, covering 90 per cent of the population by 2025 is also in line with government expectations in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), 2010-2030.

  • Melinda Gates earns billionaire status after ‘divorce alert’ from Bill Gates

    Melinda Gates earns billionaire status after ‘divorce alert’ from Bill Gates

    Melinda Gates has earned herself billionaire status after receiving her ‘divorce alert’ from Bill Gates.

    Earlier this week, Melinda and Bill announced their divorce and on that same day, Melinda became a billionaire.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Cascade Investment, Bill’s investment vehicle has transferred nearly $2.4 billion in securities to Melinda.

    The next day, however, Bill’s net worth dropped slightly, from $130.4 billion to $128.1 billion, according to Forbes.

    Nevertheless, Bill maintained his status as the fourth richest person in the world.

    He falls behind Jeff Bezos ($177 billion), Elon Musk ($157 billion) and Bernard Arnault and family ($150 billion).

    Meanwhile, Melinda received 2.94 million shares of AutoNation and 14.1 million shares of Canadian National Railway Co., according to Forbes.

    AutoNation is worth $309 million and Canadian National Railway Co. is worth an estimated $1.5 billion.

    She also received 25.8 million shares of Mexico-based Coca-Cola Femsa — worth $120 million — and 155.4 million shares of Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa SA — worth $386 million.

    Up until 2000, Bill was Microsoft’s CEO, and he later moved out of a daily role with the company in 2008.

    Until 2014, he served as chairman of the board and announced just last year he was stepping down to focus on philanthropy.

    In 2000, the couple founded The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has spent more than $53 billion since its formation to target poverty and inequity worldwide, according to the foundation’s website.

    Melinda, who was a product manager at Microsoft, met Bill at a business dinner in New York City. They got married in Hawaii in 1994.

    The couple’s divorce filings show they asked a judge in Washington state to divide their assets based on the terms of a separation contract, usually issued when spouses are living apart but have not yet divorced, according to Forbes.

    The terms of the contract weren’t disclosed.

  • Elon Musk’s SpaceX eyes Nigeria as critical market for business

    Elon Musk’s SpaceX eyes Nigeria as critical market for business

    American aerospace manufacturer and space transportations services company, SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk has identified Nigeria as a critical market for its business.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports a delegation from the American aerospace manufacturer and space transportations services company were in the country on Thursday, held a meeting and made a presentation to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    SpaceX is in the process of launching a low-earth orbiting (LOE) constellation of satellites to provide low latency, high bandwidths Internet to all corners of the globe and has identified Nigeria as a critical market.

    SpaceX has been in discussion with NCC virtually over the past several months to begin the process of pursuing all necessary licenses to bring Starlink, its satellite-based broadband services to Nigeria.

    Having made substantial progress in the discussion, the Commission granted SpaceX’s request for a face-to-face discussion to gain better insights on the prospects of their proposal.

    Led by SpaceX’s Starlink Market Access Director for Africa, Ryan Goodnight and supported by the company’s consultant, Levin Born, the company provided an overview of its plans, expectations, licensing requests and deployment phases during the meeting.

    After the presentation by the SpaceX team, the NCC emphasised that in light of disruption in the technology world, it is keen on balancing healthy competition with entry of disruptive technologies to ensure sustainable telecoms industry growth and development in Nigeria.

    The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, stated this, represented by NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Ubale Maska.

    He said NCC will work on necessary modalities to ensure that it balances the need for healthy competition vis-a-vis the entry of new technologies, in order to protect all industry stakeholders.

    “As the regulator of a highly dynamic sector in Nigeria, the Commission is conscious of the need to ensure that our regulatory actions are anchored on national interest.

    “We have listened to your presentation and we will review it vis-à-vis our regulatory direction of ensuring effective and a sustainable telecoms ecosystem where a licensee’s operational model does not dampen healthy competition among other licensees,” Maska told the SpaceX delegation.

    Maska further stated that the Commission is interested in making necessary regulatory efforts to drive the coverage of rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country through the accomplishments of the lofty targets contained in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025.

    He noted that the plan’s target of 70 per cent broadband penetration target, covering 90 per cent of the population by 2025 is also in line with government expectations in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), 2010-2030.

    Other Senior Management staff of the Commission, at the briefing include the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu; Director, Licensing and Authorisation, Mohammed Babajika; Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Bako Wakil; Director, New Media and Information Security, Dr. Haru Alhassan and Director, Spectrum Administration, Oluwatoyin Asaju, among others.

    Section 70 (2) of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003, empowers the Commission to regulate the provision and use of all satellite communications services and networks, in whole or in part within Nigeria or on a ship or aircraft registered in Nigeria.

    This is for the purpose of ensuring a well-developed and organised satellite communications market with appropriate legal framework that meets international best practices, encourages innovation, promotes competition and guarantees public safety in the rendering of commercial satellite services.

  • Jeff Bezos overtakes Elon Musk reclaims spot as world’s richest person

    Jeff Bezos overtakes Elon Musk reclaims spot as world’s richest person

    Jeff Bezos has reclaimed his title of world’s richest person, ending Elon Musk’s six-week reign atop the list.

    Musk lost about $4.5 billion Tuesday after Tesla’s (TSLA) shares fell 2.4 percent, which was enough to knock him to second place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking.

    Bezos’ net worth also fell as the broader stock market lost a bit of ground but his loss wasn’t as extreme, only taking a hit of about $372 million. The index currently says Bezos is worth $191 billion compared to Musk’s $190 billion.

    Musk became the richest man in the world early in January when Tesla’s stock was rising. The 170 million shares of Tesla he already owns increased in value by $106 billion during 2020, as shares shot up 743 percent during the course of the year.

    Bezos had a rather robust 2020, too. The Amazon CEO’s stake in the company increased by $75 billion in 2020, to $173.3 billion, given the huge increase in sales driven by the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Bill Gates remains the world third-richest person worth $137 billion.

  • BREAKING: Tesla’s Elon Musk overshadows Jeff Bezos, becomes world’s richest person

    BREAKING: Tesla’s Elon Musk overshadows Jeff Bezos, becomes world’s richest person

    Elon Musk edged past Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to grab the title of world’s richest person.

    According to a report published in Bloomberg, a 6% rise in Tesla (TSLA) shares early Thursday lifted the value of its CEO’s stock holdings and options by $10 billion, taking his net worth to about $191 billion. A more modest rise of less than 2% lifted Bezos’ Amazon (AMZN) shares by about $3 billion, putting his net worth at $187 billion.

    Bloomberg’s real-time billionaire tracker still has Bezos about $3 billion ahead of Musk. But the tracker doesn’t update until the end of the trading day. Bloomberg posted an article confirming Musk’s title.

    Bill Gates is now a distant third at $132 billion, according to Bloomberg.

    The Forbes real-time tracker still has Musk and Bezos $18 billion apart as of the close of trading Wednesday, after Bezos lost $4.3 billion in the value of his Amazon (AMZN) stock. Although the broader market was up sharply Wednesday, Big Tech stocks, including Amazon, fell on concerns that Democratic control of the Senate could mean greater scrutiny and regulation on the industry.

    Another gain in Tesla (TSLA) shares Wednesday lifted Musk’s net worth by $4.1 billion to $165.4 billion, according to Forbes’ calculations. But Forbes does not appear to be giving Musk credit for the value of options he received in 2020 to buy an additional 33.6 million shares of Tesla.

    Musk is also the primary shareholder and CEO of SpaceX, though SpaceX is privately held, so its value does not fluctuate as much as the value of Tesla.

    Bezos’ stake in Amazon shares increased by $75 billion in 2020, to $173.3 billion, given the huge increase in sales driven by the Covid-19 pandemic.

    But that was nothing compared to Musk’s holdings in Tesla. The 170 million shares of Tesla he already owns increased in value by $106 billion during 2020, as shares shot up 743% during the course of the year.

    The value of his stock options he held at the start of the year increased by $14.2 billion, while the new options he received during the course of the year as part of his pay package had a value of $21.5 billion at year’s end.

    Musk caught Gates for the title of the world’s second-richest person in late November, but Tesla shares have increased in value by 45% since then, lifting Musk’s net worth by $53 billion over the past couple months.

    Tesla shares are off to a good start in 2021, rising more than $90 a share, or 13%, since the start of this year, including the gains early Thursday. That has lifted Musk’s Tesla holdings and options by about $21 billion this year. Meanwhile, Amazon’s stock was down slightly for the year as of late morning Thursday.

    Musk is set to qualify for options to buy another 16.9 million shares of Tesla early this year, according to company filings. Those options would be worth $12.3 billion at the shares’ current value, after taking into account the exercise price.

    Bezos does not have any Amazon stock options, only the 53.2 million shares he has as the company’s founder. He would have had more if he hadn’t given 19.7 million shares to his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, in his divorce. Bezos has also sold off or has given away shares as part of his charitable donations. Musk has never disposed of any Tesla shares.

    Bezos isn’t the only one that Musk caught up to Thursday. ExxonMobil (XOM), the United States’ most valuable oil company, had a market value at midday Thursday of just under $191 billion. So Musk, who is a leading advocate of switching drivers around the world from gas and diesel to electric vehicles, is for the time being at least worth more than America’s largest oil company.

  • Elon Musk and the pyramids of the mind, By Owei Lakemfa

     

    By Owei Lakemfa.

     

    ELON Reeve Musk, 49, citizen of South Africa, Canada and the United States with a 2020 net worth of $70.6 billion is one of the richest persons in the world. In fact, he can literarily buy a country or two. He co-founded the electronic-payment firm PayPal which he sold, making a handsome $180 million, post-tax.

     

    Musk is a leader in the race to universalise the electric car through Tesla in which he invested $70 million from his PayPal deal. He also dreams to make space travel as easy as normal air travel. For this, he established a rocket company, SpaceX which designs, manufactures and launches rockets and spacecraft. Its flagship spacecraft ‘The Dragon’ which is capable of carrying seven passengers was due back on earth on Sunday, August 2 from a two-month trip to International Space Station carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

     

    So, by any standard, Musk is a successful man and should be contented. He must have been quite excited about the Dragon’s planned return which is just a step towards his bigger dream of landing humans in Mars. There are those who believe that aliens occupy one or more planets and that they visit the earth in spacecraft and sometimes abduct humans. There was panic in America in 1938 when 23-year-old Orson Wells during a broadcast on radio production, proclaimed: “The Martians (Aliens from Mars) are coming”. It fooled many Americans into believing aliens were invading the earth. There was widespread panic.

     

    Believing in the existence of aliens, Musk on Friday, August 31, tweeted: “Aliens built the pyramids obv (obviously)”. He was implying that the pyramids in Africa, some over 4,600 years old, could not have been built by humans. He was suggesting that Africans could not have had the knowledge, intelligence and skills to build such enduring architectural wonders.

     

    To admit that Africans built the pyramids, would have meant the claim of superiority over the Blackman is just crap. That would be too much for a Musk born into Apartheid South Africa, raised in a Whites-only suburb of Pretoria and attending the Pretoria Boys High School, a Whites-only racist school. His mother, Maye, a South African television personality was Canadian, while his father, Errol Musk was an Afrikaans engineer who during Apartheid, shot dead three persons and got away with it, claiming it was in self-defence.

     

    In an interview in the November 2017 edition of the Rolling Stone Magazine, titled: ‘Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow’ he said of his father: “He was such a terrible human being. You have no idea…My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He will plan evil.

    He was such a terrible human being… You have no idea about how bad. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done.”

     

    The Senior Musk writing in defence of himself said: “I’ve been accused of being a Gay, a Misogynist, a Paedophile, a Traitor, a Rat, a Shit (quite often), a Bastard (by many women whose attentions I did not return) and much more. My own (wonderful) mother told me I am ‘ruthless’ and should learn to be more ‘humane; (but) I love my children and would readily do whatever for them.”

     

    But Musk disagrees with his father’s claims. He said even after he assisted his father financially, things did not change: “I’ve tried everything. I tried threats, rewards, intellectual arguments, emotional arguments, everything to try to change my father for the better, and he… no way, it just got worse.”

     

    Musk believes that a human being’s personality might be 80 per cent nature and 20 per cent nurture. It is unclear what percentage of his father’s gene he has acquired. For example, he said: “I’m naturally good at engineering, that’s because I inherited it from my father”. But as evident from his views of his father, he has tried to fight off the negative aspects of his father’s personality.

     

    Musk suffers from autophobia or monophobia: fear of being lonely or alone even in a secured environment. This may be due to his childhood experience when he was left most of the time with an inattentive nanny. He also had a bad time in school: “The gangs at school would hunt me down – literally hunt me down!”

     

    Musk’s claims about aliens building the pyramids are conditioned not by his knowledge but his background that makes it difficult to accept the reality that Africa led the world in knowledge production, and is the foundation of modern civilisation. There are verifiable archaeological findings on the lives of the pyramid builders, including their homes, family life, tools and tombs where they were buried. In some of the pyramids are paintings of the builders at work. The imaginary aliens Musk tweeted about cannot leave such human trail.

     

    Musk must have been challenged by the marvel that the pyramids are such as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt which stands at over 450ft (137m). For thousands of years, the over 100 pyramids in Egypt and 123 in Sudan, were the tallest structures in the world. Going by Musk’s claim and since the pyramids were the tombs of the Black Pharaohs and their families, why would aliens come down periodically to build tombs for them? Is it to suggest that the so-called aliens were servants of the African kings who obeyed summons to fly to earth and build the pyramids? Does that suggest that Africans were a super-race who controlled aliens? Do all these make sense even to the unintelligent?

     

    The pyramids are an extraordinary human heritage which bear eloquent testimony to human knowledge and skill. So, to ascribe their construction to aliens is to do injury to human history. Why would a Musk who said: “I was raised by books. Books, and then my parents”, not read up on the pyramids before tweeting on them? It is a wonder that Musk who reads and thinks about space would not educate himself about the earthly pyramids; one of the seven wonders of the world that shows the vastness of human knowledge and how the ancients pushed science to the limits just as he is trying to do with space travel. Musk has built monumental structures or pyramids in his mind, choosing variously to stand at the pyramidal top when he wants to view the world, or in-between the pyramids when he chooses to limit his vision.

     

    Sometimes, the behaviour and utterances of Musk give the impression that you do not need to be intelligent to be a billionaire. That in some cases, like that of Donald Trump, means you actually require a load of stupidity to be a billionaire.

  • COVID-19: We regret begging US billionaire for ventilators – FG

    The Federal Government has withdrawn the plea made by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning demanding ventilators from a United States’ billionaire, Elon Musk in order to provide treatment for the Coronavirus patients within Nigeria.

    Musk, the founder and Chief Engineer, SpaceX, had tweeted on Thursday that his firm had extra ventilators that had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in America.

    “We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. We will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients and not stored in a warehouse,” his tweet read.

    In an early response, the ministry of finance, budget and national planning had shown willingness to receive the kind gesture, opening up on the need of 100 to 500.

    The ministry tweeted, “Dear @Elonmusk @Tesla Federal Government of Nigeria needs support with 100 to 500 ventilators to assist with Covid-19 cases rising every day in Nigeria.”

    Following an immediate backlash from the public, however, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, the Special Adviser to the minister on Media and Communications, issued a disclaimer that the unauthorised post made with the ministry’s verified Twitter handle is regrettable and therefore brought down.

    He wrote: “An unauthorised post was made on the verified Twitter handle of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

    “The fact of the post is regrettable because of which it is brought down. We have made sure our internal processes are strengthened that such doesn’t happen again.

    “The error is highly regrettable.”

  • Uproar as FG requests Elon Musk for 100-500 ventilators

    Uproar as FG requests Elon Musk for 100-500 ventilators

    The request by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning for 100-500 ventilators from an engineer, industrial designer, and technology entrepreneur, Elon Musk has caused an uproar.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Elon Musk had posted to Twitter the availability of extra FDA-approved ventilators for shipment to hospitals worldwide within his company, Tesla’s delivery regions.

    As the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues its rage across the globe, demand for life-saving equipments, including ventilators soared, with countries having to source for these life-saving equipments by every means possible.

    In his efforts to contribute to containing the COVID-19 pandemic, Elon Musk started making FDA-approved ventilators available to some countries that are battling with the novel Coronavirus.

    “We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know,” Elon Musk tweeted.

    In response, the official Twitter account for Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, tweeted “Dear @elonmusk @Tesla Federal Government of Nigeria needs support with 100-500 ventilators to assist with #Covid19 cases arising every day in Nigeria”.

    Federal Government of Nigeria needs support with 100-500 ventilators
    “Federal Government of Nigeria needs support with 100-500 ventilators to assist with #Covid19 cases arising every day in Nigeria,” Ministry of Health requests Elon Musk.

    The Ministry’s response had garnered over 1,500 retweets and over 2,000 likes before it was deleted. However, the comments that followed mostly were not palatable.

     

     

    https://twitter.com/AsiwajuLerry/status/1245638553419186176?s=19

     

    https://twitter.com/cliqik/status/1245644451533303815?s=19

    https://twitter.com/chiefmarcus_/status/1245654827637456897?s=19

    https://twitter.com/chiefmarcus_/status/1245654827637456897?s=19

    https://twitter.com/chiefmarcus_/status/1245668071622291458?s=19

    https://twitter.com/PrincessofImo/status/1245651646777929729?s=19

    Meanwhile, several countries such as Spain, Ukraine and Argentina have indicated interest for the extra FDA-approved ventilators that Elon Musk is willing to giveaway.

  • Elon Musk ‘transforms’ into Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

    Elon Musk ‘transforms’ into Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

    Elon Musk on Wednesday answered the age-old question of what Elon “The Musk” Johnson would look like by ‘transforming’ himself into Dwayne Johnson, popular actor and former wrestler known as The Rock.

    He took to Twitter to post some images of his head Photoshopped onto The Rock’s ripped body with the caption: “Yeah, I lift a little…” generating an exchange with Dwayne.

    Johnson quoted the tweet and showered Musk with praise.

    “He’s. A. Beast. @elonmusk Handsome SOB too!” Dwayne wrote.

    “Oh stop, you’ll make me blush,” Musk replied.

    Musk is a technology entrepreneur and engineer, and is the founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX.

    He is also the co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; co-founder and CEO of Neuralink; founder of The Boring Company; and co-founder of PayPal.

     

  • Crew Dragon: Everything to know about SpaceX’s first commercial crew mission

    Crew Dragon: Everything to know about SpaceX’s first commercial crew mission

    NASA and SpaceX made history on Saturday after launching and successfully docking the first commercially-built and operated crew spacecraft and rocket known as Crew Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 2:49 a.m. EST Saturday on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and docked the ISS on Sunday at 5:51am ET.

    “I proudly congratulate the SpaceX and NASA teams for this major milestone in our nation’s space history.

    “This first launch of a space system designed for humans, and built and operated by a commercial company through a public-private partnership, is a revolutionary step on our path to get humans to the Moon, Mars and beyond,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine at the launch.

    https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1102201607717089281

    SpaceX Crew Dragon inaugural flight

    Known as Demo-1, SpaceX’s inaugural flight with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is an important uncrewed mission designed to test the end-to-end capabilities of the new system.

    It brings the nation one-step closer to the return of human launches to the space station from the United States for the first time since 2011 – the last space shuttle mission.

    Teams still have work to do after this flight to prepare the spacecraft to fly astronauts. The best way to advance the system design was to fly this spacecraft and uncover any other areas or integrated flight changes that might be required.

    The program demonstrates NASA’s commitment to investing in commercial companies through public-private partnerships and builds on the success of American companies, including SpaceX, already delivering cargo to the space station.

    Demo-1 is a critical step for NASA and SpaceX to demonstrate the ability to safely fly missions with NASA astronauts to the orbital laboratory.

    “First a note of appreciation to the SpaceX team. It has been 17 years to get to this point, 2002 to now, and an incredible amount of hard work and sacrifice from a lot of people that got us to this point…I’d also like to express great appreciation for NASA,” said Elon Musk, CEO and lead designer at SpaceX.

    “SpaceX would not be here without NASA, without the incredible work that was done before SpaceX even started and without the support after SpaceX did start,” he added.

    The public-private partnership combines commercial companies’ unique, innovative approaches to human spaceflight and NASA’s decades-long experience in design, development and operations of a crew space system.

    “We are watching history being made with the launch of the SpaceX Demo-1 mission,” said Steve Stich, launch manager and deputy manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

    “SpaceX and NASA teams have been working together for years, and now we are side-by-side in control rooms across the country for launch, in-orbit operations and, eventually, splashdown of the Crew Dragon right here off Florida’s coast.”

    Crew Dragon ascent into space

    SpaceX controlled the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Control Center Firing Room 4, the former space shuttle control room, which SpaceX has leased as its primary launch control center.

    As Crew Dragon ascended into space, SpaceX commanded the Crew Dragon spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA teams monitored space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

    Live coverage of the rendezvous and docking aired on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 3:30 a.m., with coverage resuming at 8:30 a.m. with the hatch opening, followed at 10:45 a.m. with a crew welcoming ceremony.

    Teams in the space station mission center at Johnson monitored station crew members’ opening of the spacecraft hatch, entering Crew Dragon and unpacking the capsule.

    Approaching the space station

    All the launch pad and vehicle hardware, and the launch day operations, were conducted in preparation for the next flight with crew aboard, including the control teams and ground crews. The mission and testing continues once the Falcon 9 lifts off the pad.

    During the spacecraft’s approach, in-orbit demonstrations included rendezvous activities from a distance of up to 2.5 miles (4 kilometers), known as far field, and activities within one mile (1.6 kilometers), known as near field.

    As the spacecraft approached the space station, it demonstrated its automated control and maneuvering capabilities by reversing course and backing away from the station before the final docking sequence.

    Docking phase

    The docking phase, as well as the return and recovery of Crew Dragon, include many first-time events that cannot be totally modeled on the ground and, thus, are critical to understanding the design and systems ability to support crew flights.

    Previous cargo Dragon vehicles have been attached to the space station after capture by the station’s robotic arm.

    The Crew Dragon approached to dock using new sensor systems, new propulsion systems and the new international docking mechanism to attach to the station’s Harmony module forward port, fitted with a new international docking adapter.

    Astronauts installed the adapter during a spacewalk in August 2016, following its delivery to the station in the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on its ninth commercial resupply services mission.

    For Demo-1, Crew Dragon is carrying more than 400 pounds of crew supplies and equipment to the space station and will return some critical research samples to Earth.

    A lifelike test device named Ripley also travelled on the Crew Dragon, outfitted with sensors to provide data on potential effects on humans traveling in Crew Dragon.

    For operational missions, Crew Dragon will be able to launch as many as four crew members and carry more than 220 pounds of cargo, enabling the expansion of the crew members, increasing the time dedicated to research in the unique microgravity environment, and returning more science back to Earth.

    The Crew Dragon is designed to stay docked to station for up to 210 days, although the Crew Dragon used for this flight test will not have that capability.

    This spacecraft will remain docked to the space station only five days, departing Friday, March 8.

    Return back to Earth

    After undocking from the station, Crew Dragon will begin its descent to Earth. Live coverage of the undocking will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 2 a.m., with deorbit and landing coverage resuming at 7:30 a.m.

    Additional spacecraft mission objectives include a safe departure from the station, followed by a deorbit burn and parachute deployment to slow the spacecraft before splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Florida Space Coast.

    SpaceX’s recovery ship, Go Searcher, will retrieve Crew Dragon and transport it back to port.

    Teams will be closely monitoring the parachute system and entry control system operation, which have been changed from cargo Dragons to provide higher reliability for crew flights.

    Further missions

    NASA and SpaceX will use data from Demo-1, along with planned upgrades and additional qualification testing, to further prepare for Demo-2, the crewed flight test that will carry NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station.

    NASA will validate the performance of SpaceX’s systems before putting crew on board for the Demo-2 flight, currently targeted for July.

    NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with Boeing and SpaceX to design, build, test and operate safe, reliable and cost-effective human transportation systems to low-Earth orbit.

    Both companies are focused on test missions, including abort system demonstrations and crew flight tests, ahead of regularly flying crew missions to the space station.

    Both companies’ crewed flights will be the first times in history NASA has sent astronauts to space on systems owned, built, tested and operated by private companies.