1 wk. ago • 99%

[Eric Berger] Why is Elon Musk talking to Vladimir Putin, and what does it mean for SpaceX?

arstechnica.com Why is Elon Musk talking to Vladimir Putin, and what does it mean for SpaceX?

NASA chief says ties between SpaceX CEO and Putin should be investigated.

22 comments

Maybe the US is about to charge him with treason and nationalise SpaceX.

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- I can only wish...
  
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- Probably more like “I’m backing your bitch trump. When (pls god no) he wins, I’ll give you access to space tech and you can crush Ukraine. Please Senpai notice me” <lapping noises> <Elon smells putins dirty asshole>
  
  5
  
  Old man yaoi is going crazy this election cycle.
  
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- and nationalise SpaceX
  
  Let's hope not. Nationalizing SpaceX would hamper their longterm projects beyond the Moon.
  
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  Oh no! Anyway
  
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I bet they have something on him.

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- Underage something footage
  
  15
- If so, why would SpaceX have so rapidly & aggressively moved to restore Ukraine's communications capabilities in the early days and weeks of the current war, and maintained them ever since?
  
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  Likely the US government said to do so or else they can kiss their funding and licenses goodbye.
  
  18
  
  Based on some old tweets, I think Musk believes Putin wants to use nuclear weapons. Then, the army put some pressure on him to keep supporting Ukraine, but he is still also working on his own. I'm sure he could block the Starlink terminals Russian army is using, if he wanted to try, for example.
  
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So... he coordinates with Putin, yet supplies internet to the Ukranian military via an arrangement with the U.S. military.

Explain how Elon is not an international security threat. How do we remove this cancerous cyst?

11
- How do we remove this cancerous cyst?
  
  I think your username gives us a clue what you would do to Musk and others if you ever gained any power.
  
  I would entrust the wellbeing of humanity to him, over you, without hesitation. We had enough of your type in the 20th Century, thanks.
  
  -11
  
  (And just to be clear, I have many problems and potential concerns about Musk. I'm just saying I'd choose him over, say, a Maoist, or a Stalinist, and over "Burn_The_Right".)
  
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This would be a nuclear option and, in reality, probably would do more harm than good to SpaceX,

It would probably set back their more ambitious targets by decades. But even Starship is now far enough along to no longer really need Musk's stewardship, and the US government would be happy enough just with control of the Falcon programme. They don't care much / at all about Making Life Multi-Planetary.

So I consider a move like this pretty plausible.

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- I don't, Musk is too influential. And honestly, I don't think there needs to be much concern about space launch part of the business. I'm under the impression that it is already regulated enough to be relatively safely under control. And I would be sad to see it taken away from SpaceX and probably even Musk specifically. He is an incredible idiot and dangerous person, but the progress they did and triggered in others is undeniable and I'd like to see it continue.
  
  But Starlink is a completely different matter. Private company strongly lead by a single, somewhat crazy person, is very dangerous. I think few people expected it to be such a game changer in the beginning, I certainly didn't. But it is important and very influential. Maybe ideal would be if it was controlled by the government, if it had the final say in geopolitical decisions etc., but the profits (or some part), development and such remained in the hands of SpaceX. Well, some international body as isolated from political influence as possible would be even better, but there's no chance of that happening.
  
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