The founder of the SpaceX space company, Elon Musk, believes that difficulties with the production of Raptor rocket engines can lead to its bankruptcy. This was announced by Musk in a letter to the company's employees on November 26, CNBC writes .
Raptor engines are designed for the Starship rocket. 39 Raptor engines are needed for orbital launches, which requires a sharp increase in production. Musk wrote that the Raptor production situation is much worse than it seemed a few weeks ago. "We will face a real risk of bankruptcy if Starship is not able to fly at least once every two weeks next year," Musk said.
In the letter, Musk said that he planned to take a Thanksgiving vacation on Thursday, November 25, but, realizing the scale of the problem with the Raptor, decided to continue working on the engine production line on Friday and over the weekend. "We need strength to recover from what, frankly, has become a disaster," Musk wrote.
In mid-November, it became known that two vice presidents, Will Heltsley and Lee Rosen, who were responsible for power plants and launches, left SpaceX. Heltsley's suspension from work is due to the lack of progress in the development of the Raptor, CNBC wrote . In the letter, Musk said that after their departure, the company's management tried to solve the engine problems, but found that they were "much more serious" than expected.
On May 5, the prototype Starship made its first successful landing, climbing 10 kilometers. Prior to that, the prototypes of the spacecraft had exploded several times. In mid-November, Musk stated that Starship could go into orbit in January 2022, provided that the launch pad at the cosmodrome under construction in Texas was ready, the necessary rocket tests were carried out and a launch permit was obtained from the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Platon Shchukin