SpaceX Falcon 9 launch lights up California night sky, wow onlookers

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has sought to play down a report identifying “big flaws” in its Model 3 sedan, admitting there is a braking issue with the vehicle but saying it will be fixed with a software update within days.

Responding to a review by influential US&nbsp;magazine Consumer Reports which stopped short of recommending the car, Musk said in a round of tweets late on Monday that the magazine’s tests - which used two separately-sourced vehicles - had been of older versions of the car that had already been improved upon.

The issue, which ate into gains for Tesla shares on Monday, came at a time when Tesla is dealing with reports of crashes involving its vehicles and growing scepticism over its finances.

Tesla stock, down around $100 dollars since last September, gained around 1 per cent on Tuesday, having finished almost 3 per cent higher on Monday, helped by an easing of trade tensions with China which may aid its plans to produce there.

“With further refinement, we can improve braking distance beyond initial specs. Tesla won’t stop until Model 3 has better braking than any remotely comparable car,” Musk wrote in exchanges with other twitter users.

“Also Consumer Reports has an early production car. Model 3 now has improved ride comfort, lower wind noise & many other small improvements. Will request that they test current production,” he wrote.

Production of Tesla Model 3s began in July of last year and the first regular customers only received their cars in December after some Tesla employees.

Consumer Reports said in the review on Monday that it had sourced a second privately-owned Model 3 to confirm initial results that showed the sedan braked slower than a full-sized pickup truck. The report did not mention the age of either car used in the testing.

Calling the review “very strange”, Musk also said that the variability in stopping distance was due to an ABS (Anti-Skid Braking System) calibration algorithm.

“The CR braking result is inconsistent with other reviewers, but might indicate that some Model 3s have longer braking distances than others,” he said.

“If so, we will address this at our expense. May just be a question of firmware tuning, in which case can be solved by an OTA software update.”

Analysts said the magazine’s story was a bad advertisement for Tesla.

“While the negative reports of braking issues will not deter Tesla brand enthusiasts, it might raise doubts among the more casual buyer,” said Neil Saunders, Managing Director of consumer research house GlobalData Retail.

“It is important not to be too harsh on Tesla as other vehicles have had their share of safety and technical issues. The issue for Tesla is that unlike other car companies, it is a young brand that needs to win people over so can’t afford too many missteps.”

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has sought to play down a report identifying 'big flaws' in its Model 3 sedan, admitting there is a braking issue with the vehicle but saying it will be fixed with a software update within days

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has sought to play down a report identifying “big flaws” in its Model 3 sedan, admitting there is a braking issue with the vehicle but saying it will be fixed with a software update within days. Responding to a review by influential US magazine Consumer Reports which stopped short of recommending the car, Musk said in a round of tweets late on Monday that the magazine’s tests - which used two separately-sourced vehicles - had been of older versions of the car that had already been improved upon. The issue, which ate into gains for Tesla shares on Monday, came at a time when Tesla is dealing with reports of crashes involving its vehicles and growing scepticism over its finances. Tesla stock, down around $100 dollars since last September, gained around 1 per cent on Tuesday, having finished almost 3 per cent higher on Monday, helped by an easing of trade tensions with China which may aid its plans to produce there. “With further refinement, we can improve braking distance beyond initial specs. Tesla won’t stop until Model 3 has better braking than any remotely comparable car,” Musk wrote in exchanges with other twitter users. “Also Consumer Reports has an early production car. Model 3 now has improved ride comfort, lower wind noise & many other small improvements. Will request that they test current production,” he wrote. Production of Tesla Model 3s began in July of last year and the first regular customers only received their cars in December after some Tesla employees. Consumer Reports said in the review on Monday that it had sourced a second privately-owned Model 3 to confirm initial results that showed the sedan braked slower than a full-sized pickup truck. The report did not mention the age of either car used in the testing. Calling the review “very strange”, Musk also said that the variability in stopping distance was due to an ABS (Anti-Skid Braking System) calibration algorithm. “The CR braking result is inconsistent with other reviewers, but might indicate that some Model 3s have longer braking distances than others,” he said. “If so, we will address this at our expense. May just be a question of firmware tuning, in which case can be solved by an OTA software update.” Analysts said the magazine’s story was a bad advertisement for Tesla. “While the negative reports of braking issues will not deter Tesla brand enthusiasts, it might raise doubts among the more casual buyer,” said Neil Saunders, Managing Director of consumer research house GlobalData Retail. “It is important not to be too harsh on Tesla as other vehicles have had their share of safety and technical issues. The issue for Tesla is that unlike other car companies, it is a young brand that needs to win people over so can’t afford too many missteps.”

Tesla's Musk admits Model 3 braking flaw, promises fix

China for the first time today launched a privately developed rocket the "Chongqing Liangjiang Star" with an eye towards sending a permanent manned space station into orbit by 2022.

OneSpace Technology, a Beijing-based private firm manufactured the rocket which was powered by solid fuel engine, company chairman Mao Chao said. The company aims to send 10 rocket missions by next year. "I hope we can become one of the biggest small-satellite launchers in the world," company founder Shu said.

The rocket has a 100 kg payload, significantly it uses energy-saving technology instead of internet power.&nbsp;

Chinese state media said One Space is the result of the Chinese government's effort to foster commercial space flight.

“We will develop bigger rockets in the future and participate in the global competition,” Shu added. Shu Chang added that his startup OneSpace mirrored Musk-controlled SpaceX.

The development of the Chinese military and space technology is one of President Xi's stated goals with the country spending millions of dollars on upgrading its various military hardware, including technology to power rockets, aircraft and drones.

The Chinese government tightly controls the development of space technology but the rise of OneSpace signals the country's intent to develop this space beyond government control more on the SpaceX and Jeff Bezos led-Blue Origin of the US.

Reports said the goal&nbsp;of the first flight of OneSpace was to collect data for a classified research project. 
&nbsp;

The rocket has a 100 kg payload, significantly it uses energy-saving technology instead of internet power.

China for the first time today launched a privately developed rocket the "Chongqing Liangjiang Star" with an eye towards sending a permanent manned space station into orbit by 2022. OneSpace Technology, a Beijing-based private firm manufactured the rocket which was powered by solid fuel engine, company chairman Mao Chao said. The company aims to send 10 rocket missions by next year. "I hope we can become one of the biggest small-satellite launchers in the world," company founder Shu said. The rocket has a 100 kg payload, significantly it uses energy-saving technology instead of internet power. Chinese state media said One Space is the result of the Chinese government's effort to foster commercial space flight. “We will develop bigger rockets in the future and participate in the global competition,” Shu added. Shu Chang added that his startup OneSpace mirrored Musk-controlled SpaceX. The development of the Chinese military and space technology is one of President Xi's stated goals with the country spending millions of dollars on upgrading its various military hardware, including technology to power rockets, aircraft and drones. The Chinese government tightly controls the development of space technology but the rise of OneSpace signals the country's intent to develop this space beyond government control more on the SpaceX and Jeff Bezos led-Blue Origin of the US. Reports said the goal of the first flight of OneSpace was to collect data for a classified research project.

Watch: In a first, China launches privately owned rocket, eyes space station in 2022

SpaceX on Friday blasted off its newest and most powerful Falcon 9 rocket, known as the Block 5, carrying the first high-orbit communications satellite for Bangladesh and marking a leap forward in re-usability for the California-based aerospace company. 
 
The rocket is designed to require far less maintenance and refurbishment between flights, and is certified to carry humans to space later this year when SpaceX launches its Dragon crew capsule to the International Space Station. 
 
"Three, two one, zero, ignition, liftoff," a SpaceX commentator said as the rocket launched at 4:14 pm (2014 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. 
 
The Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket's main goal for its maiden mission was to propel a communications satellite for Bangladesh, called Bangabandhu Satellite-1, to a geostationary transfer orbit roughly 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) above Earth. 
 
"In the continuous advancement of Bangladesh another milestone is added today," said Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a video address aired on SpaceX's launch webcast. 
 
"With the launch of Bangabandhu-1, we are hoisting our national flag into space."

<iframe frameborder="0" height="1" id="google_ads_iframe_/1068322/NDTV_News_ROS_Native_Outstream_0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/1068322/NDTV_News_ROS_Native_Outstream_0" scrolling="no" srcdoc="" title="3rd party ad content" width="1"></iframe>The satellite will offer video and communications coverage over Bangladesh and its territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal, as well as in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia. 
 
"The satellite will also provide broadband connectivity to rural areas throughout the country," said a SpaceX statement, noting that the mission is expected to last at least 15 years. 
 
About a half hour after launch, live images showed the satellite drifting into the inky blackness of space, as cheers and screams erupted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. 
 
"Successful deployment of Bangabandhu Satellite-1 to geostationary transfer orbit," SpaceX said on Twitter.

The launch was&nbsppostponed at the last minute Thursday, when an automatic abort switch was triggered, but SpaceX said it was just a glitch and the spacecraft remained in good health. 
 
The rocket is built to re-fly up to 10 times with minimal refurbishment, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told reporters ahead of the launch. 
 
"We expect there would be literally no action taken between flights, so just like aircraft," Musk said, describing the many years of effort that went into the rocket as "crazy hard." 
 
After liftoff, the rocket made a successful upright landing on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, marking the 25th successful touchdown for SpaceX. 
 
SpaceX has now landed 11 of its boosters on land and 14 on its droneships, which are floating platforms in the ocean, as part of its effort to bring down the cost of spaceflight and re-use costly rocket parts. 
 
The first crew launch for SpaceX is tentatively planned for December 2018.&nbsp

It will mark the first time since the end of the US space shuttle program in 2011 that a rocket has left US soil carrying people to space.

The rocket is designed to require far less maintenance and refurbishment between flights, and is certified to carry humans to space later this year when SpaceX launches its Dragon crew capsule to the International Space Station.

SpaceX on Friday blasted off its newest and most powerful Falcon 9 rocket, known as the Block 5, carrying the first high-orbit communications satellite for Bangladesh and marking a leap forward in re-usability for the California-based aerospace company. The rocket is designed to require far less maintenance and refurbishment between flights, and is certified to carry humans to space later this year when SpaceX launches its Dragon crew capsule to the International Space Station. "Three, two one, zero, ignition, liftoff," a SpaceX commentator said as the rocket launched at 4:14 pm (2014 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket's main goal for its maiden mission was to propel a communications satellite for Bangladesh, called Bangabandhu Satellite-1, to a geostationary transfer orbit roughly 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) above Earth. "In the continuous advancement of Bangladesh another milestone is added today," said Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a video address aired on SpaceX's launch webcast. "With the launch of Bangabandhu-1, we are hoisting our national flag into space." The satellite will offer video and communications coverage over Bangladesh and its territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal, as well as in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia. "The satellite will also provide broadband connectivity to rural areas throughout the country," said a SpaceX statement, noting that the mission is expected to last at least 15 years. About a half hour after launch, live images showed the satellite drifting into the inky blackness of space, as cheers and screams erupted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. "Successful deployment of Bangabandhu Satellite-1 to geostationary transfer orbit," SpaceX said on Twitter. The launch was&nbsppostponed at the last minute Thursday, when an automatic abort switch was triggered, but SpaceX said it was just a glitch and the spacecraft remained in good health. The rocket is built to re-fly up to 10 times with minimal refurbishment, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told reporters ahead of the launch. "We expect there would be literally no action taken between flights, so just like aircraft," Musk said, describing the many years of effort that went into the rocket as "crazy hard." After liftoff, the rocket made a successful upright landing on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, marking the 25th successful touchdown for SpaceX. SpaceX has now landed 11 of its boosters on land and 14 on its droneships, which are floating platforms in the ocean, as part of its effort to bring down the cost of spaceflight and re-use costly rocket parts. The first crew launch for SpaceX is tentatively planned for December 2018. It will mark the first time since the end of the US space shuttle program in 2011 that a rocket has left US soil carrying people to space.

SpaceX launches most powerful Falcon 9 yet

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk is promising the public "free rides" in the next few months through the first high-speed passenger tunnel drilled beneath Los Angeles by his aptly named underground transit venture, the Boring Company.

The question is whether the tunnel as advertised by Musk on social media will live up to the sensation he stirred by suggesting commuters will soon get to sample a new subterranean traffic system he has under development in the nation's second-largest city.

The tunnel is shown in an attention-getting video clip Musk posted to Instagram on Thursday actually runs not under Los Angeles but beneath the tiny, adjacent municipality of Hawthorne, where his Boring Company and SpaceX rocket firm are both headquartered.

And it was uncertain whether the permits he received from the Hawthorne would even allow the public to set foot in the tunnel, originally proposed strictly as an experimental project to test Musk's concepts for a high-speed transit network.

"There will be no cars or people in the research tunnel," according to the minutes of a special Hawthorne city council meeting last August to review the proposed easement or right-of-way, Boring sought for the tunnel.

Musk, who also leads the Tesla Inc electric car manufacturing company, launched his foray into public transit after he complained on Twitter in December 2016 that clogged traffic was "driving me nuts," vowing then to "build a boring machine and just start digging."

Musk maintained his air of bravura in his latest Instagram message, which was repeated to his Twitter account.

"First Boring Company tunnel under LA almost done! Pending final regulatory approvals, we will be offering free rides to the public in a few months," he wrote.

According to public records, Boring started with a 350-foot-long tunnel on private property belonging to SpaceX and later sought the easement to extend the tunnel another 2 miles underground beneath Hawthorne city streets.

Boring has since sought approval to dig a similar experimental tunnel that would run for 2.7 miles beneath the busy west side of Los Angeles proper but has yet to break ground there.

Both plans were pitched as first steps toward developing a subterranean network of tunnels envisioned by Musk for rapidly whisking car and pedestrian traffic within and between cities to ease road congestion at the surface.

"Super huge thanks to everyone that helped with this project," Musk said in his social media messages. "As mentioned in prior posts, once fully operational (demo system rides will be free), the system will always give priority to pods for pedestrians & cyclists for less than the cost of a bus ticket."

The message accompanied a fast-forward video of the tunnel's interior shot by a camera travelling the length of the cylindrical passageway, well lit and roughly 12 feet in diameter. A man in a hard hat is seen working at one end of apparently unfinished underground tube.

Musk was not available for comment. Jehn Hemme, a spokeswoman for Boring, declined to comment when asked to clarify Musk's Instagram post and what the video actually depicted.

While Musk referred to the tunnel as the first his company has excavated under "LA", the footage is from the existing tunnel in Hawthorne, said Alison Simard, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, who has supported Boring's request to fast-track approval of a Los Angeles test tunnel.

She said there was nothing in that request, which City Council's public works committee approved in April, that would allow public entry into a test tunnel.

Hawthorne city officials were not available for comment city offices there are typically closed on Fridays.

The question is whether the tunnel as advertised by Musk on social media will live up to the sensation he stirred

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk is promising the public "free rides" in the next few months through the first high-speed passenger tunnel drilled beneath Los Angeles by his aptly named underground transit venture, the Boring Company. The question is whether the tunnel as advertised by Musk on social media will live up to the sensation he stirred by suggesting commuters will soon get to sample a new subterranean traffic system he has under development in the nation's second-largest city. The tunnel is shown in an attention-getting video clip Musk posted to Instagram on Thursday actually runs not under Los Angeles but beneath the tiny, adjacent municipality of Hawthorne, where his Boring Company and SpaceX rocket firm are both headquartered. And it was uncertain whether the permits he received from the Hawthorne would even allow the public to set foot in the tunnel, originally proposed strictly as an experimental project to test Musk's concepts for a high-speed transit network. "There will be no cars or people in the research tunnel," according to the minutes of a special Hawthorne city council meeting last August to review the proposed easement or right-of-way, Boring sought for the tunnel. Musk, who also leads the Tesla Inc electric car manufacturing company, launched his foray into public transit after he complained on Twitter in December 2016 that clogged traffic was "driving me nuts," vowing then to "build a boring machine and just start digging." Musk maintained his air of bravura in his latest Instagram message, which was repeated to his Twitter account. "First Boring Company tunnel under LA almost done! Pending final regulatory approvals, we will be offering free rides to the public in a few months," he wrote. According to public records, Boring started with a 350-foot-long tunnel on private property belonging to SpaceX and later sought the easement to extend the tunnel another 2 miles underground beneath Hawthorne city streets. Boring has since sought approval to dig a similar experimental tunnel that would run for 2.7 miles beneath the busy west side of Los Angeles proper but has yet to break ground there. Both plans were pitched as first steps toward developing a subterranean network of tunnels envisioned by Musk for rapidly whisking car and pedestrian traffic within and between cities to ease road congestion at the surface. "Super huge thanks to everyone that helped with this project," Musk said in his social media messages. "As mentioned in prior posts, once fully operational (demo system rides will be free), the system will always give priority to pods for pedestrians & cyclists for less than the cost of a bus ticket." The message accompanied a fast-forward video of the tunnel's interior shot by a camera travelling the length of the cylindrical passageway, well lit and roughly 12 feet in diameter. A man in a hard hat is seen working at one end of apparently unfinished underground tube. Musk was not available for comment. Jehn Hemme, a spokeswoman for Boring, declined to comment when asked to clarify Musk's Instagram post and what the video actually depicted. While Musk referred to the tunnel as the first his company has excavated under "LA", the footage is from the existing tunnel in Hawthorne, said Alison Simard, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, who has supported Boring's request to fast-track approval of a Los Angeles test tunnel. She said there was nothing in that request, which City Council's public works committee approved in April, that would allow public entry into a test tunnel. Hawthorne city officials were not available for comment city offices there are typically closed on Fridays.

Elon Musk promises free rides through tunnel, but to where?

Jeff Bezos takes everything related to Blue Origin and Amazon quite seriously. The wealthiest man in the world recently took to Twitter and shared American television host, comedian and producer Conan O' Brien's joke that stated that Bezos will spend "the majority of his fortune getting himself into space".

The Amazon CEO shared an image from O'Brien's joke on Tuesday night’s episode of “Conan” and shared it on his social accounts.

Bezos' post sported a smiley and had Team Coco and Blue Origin tagged in it. Once again Bezos reinstated his seriousness about space exploration and his ability to bounce-off trolls and jokes with much ease.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"I have seen what you people buy, and I don't want to near you," Conan quoted Bezos in his joke.&nbsp;

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? <a href="https://twitter.com/ConanOBrien?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ConanOBrien</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/blueorigin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BlueOrigin</a> <a href="https://t.co/x3BiCpaLQA">pic.twitter.com/x3BiCpaLQA</a>
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/991799694664679425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Bezos-led Blue Origin is an aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Kent, Washington that closely chases Bezos dream of space exploration and finding an alternative planet habitable for humans.&nbsp;

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's intention to colonise the Red Planet is not unknown to the world.&nbsp;

Last year in September, Musk unveiled ambitious plans to send cargo ships to Mars in five years and use rockets to carry people between Earth's major cities in under half-an-hour.

The founder of SpaceX said a planned interplanetary transport system, codenamed BFR (Big Fucking Rocket), would be downsized so it could carry out a range of tasks that would then pay for future Mars missions.

Musk said his firm had started building the system, with the construction of the first ship to start in six to nine months.

"I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and launch in about five years," Musk added.

On the other hand, last year Bezos made an announcement of Blue Origin's plan to launch paying passengers on 11-minute space rides this year. Reports suggest Bezos sells $1 billion of Amazon stock every year to fund his rocket venture.&nbsp;

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's intention to colonise the Red Planet is not unknown to the world

Jeff Bezos takes everything related to Blue Origin and Amazon quite seriously. The wealthiest man in the world recently took to Twitter and shared American television host, comedian and producer Conan O' Brien's joke that stated that Bezos will spend "the majority of his fortune getting himself into space". The Amazon CEO shared an image from O'Brien's joke on Tuesday night’s episode of “Conan” and shared it on his social accounts. Bezos' post sported a smiley and had Team Coco and Blue Origin tagged in it. Once again Bezos reinstated his seriousness about space exploration and his ability to bounce-off trolls and jokes with much ease. "I have seen what you people buy, and I don't want to near you," Conan quoted Bezos in his joke. ? @ConanOBrien @BlueOrigin pic.twitter.com/x3BiCpaLQA — Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 2, 2018 × Bezos-led Blue Origin is an aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Kent, Washington that closely chases Bezos dream of space exploration and finding an alternative planet habitable for humans. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's intention to colonise the Red Planet is not unknown to the world. Last year in September, Musk unveiled ambitious plans to send cargo ships to Mars in five years and use rockets to carry people between Earth's major cities in under half-an-hour. The founder of SpaceX said a planned interplanetary transport system, codenamed BFR (Big Fucking Rocket), would be downsized so it could carry out a range of tasks that would then pay for future Mars missions. Musk said his firm had started building the system, with the construction of the first ship to start in six to nine months. "I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and launch in about five years," Musk added. On the other hand, last year Bezos made an announcement of Blue Origin's plan to launch paying passengers on 11-minute space rides this year. Reports suggest Bezos sells $1 billion of Amazon stock every year to fund his rocket venture.

Jeff Bezos to spend 'majority of his fortune' getting into space  

Who doesn't want to know Elon Musk's secret to success? Looks like the SpaceX CEO doesn't mind giving up on his good night's sleep or a hearty, sumptuous breakfast for work.&nbsp;

Musk had previously admitted to usually getting 5-6 hours of sleep. He also mentioned that a couple of most stressful things in his life right now would be AI (artificial intelligence) and Tesla Model 3 productions.

Musk sleeps late, he previously admitted to it openly but revealed that he usually gets up by 7 in the morning and manages fairly well if he sleeps for six to six-and-a-half hours every day.

Tesla co-founder has been vocal about his time-management and routine. Musk is known to meticulously shuttle between his two company sites throughout the week and then spend time with his five sons as well.

"My sons are very unimpressed with me," Musk chuckled in one of his interviews.&nbsp;

Musk keeps so busy that he usually gets no time for a proper breakfast and generally makes do with some coffee.

"I would love some omelette and coffee," Musk expressed when asked about his idea of a perfect breakfast.&nbsp;

Musk is worth close to a whopping $1,930 crores and to be able to achieve that and continue to be at the top of the game demands such little sacrifices.&nbsp;

Earlier this week Elon Musk took to Twitter announcing his <a href="www.wionews.com/world/now-elon-musk-wants-to-build-a-cyborg-dragon-132864">upcoming project</a>.&nbsp;

"Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon," read his tweet.

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Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/989198118666162176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Musk did not give out any more details about his brand new project, however, Twitter broke into a wave of reactions mulling over and interpreting what could his tweet possibly mean.

Earlier this month, Musk took to Twitter and posted a funny post declaring that <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/musks-hilarious-april-fools-tweet-silences-speculation-around-teslas-finances-127862">Tesla had gone bankrupt</a>. Musk's April Fool's post exhibited his humour-quotient (which is almost always spot on) and also silenced reports suggesting Tesla's shaky financial situation.&nbsp;

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Tesla Goes Bankrupt 
Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980566101124722688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

Tesla owner has been vocal about his time-management and routine. Musk is known to meticulously shuttle between his two company sites throughout the week

Who doesn't want to know Elon Musk's secret to success? Looks like the SpaceX CEO doesn't mind giving up on his good night's sleep or a hearty, sumptuous breakfast for work. Musk had previously admitted to usually getting 5-6 hours of sleep. He also mentioned that a couple of most stressful things in his life right now would be AI (artificial intelligence) and Tesla Model 3 productions. Musk sleeps late, he previously admitted to it openly but revealed that he usually gets up by 7 in the morning and manages fairly well if he sleeps for six to six-and-a-half hours every day. Tesla co-founder has been vocal about his time-management and routine. Musk is known to meticulously shuttle between his two company sites throughout the week and then spend time with his five sons as well. "My sons are very unimpressed with me," Musk chuckled in one of his interviews. Musk keeps so busy that he usually gets no time for a proper breakfast and generally makes do with some coffee. "I would love some omelette and coffee," Musk expressed when asked about his idea of a perfect breakfast. Musk is worth close to a whopping $1,930 crores and to be able to achieve that and continue to be at the top of the game demands such little sacrifices. Earlier this week Elon Musk took to Twitter announcing his upcoming project. "Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon," read his tweet. Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2018 × Musk did not give out any more details about his brand new project, however, Twitter broke into a wave of reactions mulling over and interpreting what could his tweet possibly mean. Earlier this month, Musk took to Twitter and posted a funny post declaring that Tesla had gone bankrupt. Musk's April Fool's post exhibited his humour-quotient (which is almost always spot on) and also silenced reports suggesting Tesla's shaky financial situation. Tesla Goes Bankrupt Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018 ×

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk doesn't sleep much, usually skips breakfasts

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's recent Twitter activity reinstated that space exploration and a desire to 'colonise' the Red Planet are not the only areas of his interest, Musk likes to indulge in a hearty scoop of humour every now and then.&nbsp;

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Tesla Goes Bankrupt 
Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980566101124722688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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In an impulsive streak of tweets, not only did Musk tested his humour-quotient but also silenced reports suggesting Tesla's shaky financial situation.&nbsp;

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There are many chapters of bankruptcy and, as critics so rightly pointed out, Tesla has them *all*, including Chapter 14 and a half (the worst one).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980566103356194816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Musk's April Fool's joke cracked up Twitter while putting to silence all speculations around Tesla's finances.&nbsp;

"Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it," read one of his tweets.&nbsp;

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Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by "Teslaquilla" bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks. 
 
This is not a forward-looking statement, because, obviously, what's the point? 
 
Happy New Month! <a href="https://t.co/YcouvFz6Y1">pic.twitter.com/YcouvFz6Y1</a>
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980566116614291456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Tesla Inc shares fell more than 9 per cent last week following a downgrade by Moody's Investors Service, a probe by the National Transportation Safety Board of a recent fatal crash and concerns about Model 3 production.

The sell-off came after Tesla tumbled 8.2 per cent on last Tuesday, the lowest close in almost a year. Tesla was trading on Wednesday at $258.44, down $20.74 a share, off a low of $252.10.

Late on Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating to B3 from B2. Moody’s said the ratings “reflect the significant shortfall in the production rate of the company’s Model 3 electric vehicle.” It also “faces liquidity pressures due to its large negative free cash flow and the pending maturities of convertible bonds.”

Moody’s said its negative outlook for Tesla “reflects the likelihood that Tesla will have to undertake a large, near-term capital raise in order to refund maturing obligations and avoid a liquidity shortfall.”

(With inputs from Reuters)

Musk's April Fool's joke cracked up Twitter while putting to silence all speculations around Tesla's finances

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's recent Twitter activity reinstated that space exploration and a desire to 'colonise' the Red Planet are not the only areas of his interest, Musk likes to indulge in a hearty scoop of humour every now and then. Tesla Goes Bankrupt Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018 × In an impulsive streak of tweets, not only did Musk tested his humour-quotient but also silenced reports suggesting Tesla's shaky financial situation. There are many chapters of bankruptcy and, as critics so rightly pointed out, Tesla has them *all*, including Chapter 14 and a half (the worst one). — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018 × Musk's April Fool's joke cracked up Twitter while putting to silence all speculations around Tesla's finances. "Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it," read one of his tweets. Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by "Teslaquilla" bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks. This is not a forward-looking statement, because, obviously, what's the point? Happy New Month! pic.twitter.com/YcouvFz6Y1 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018 × Tesla Inc shares fell more than 9 per cent last week following a downgrade by Moody's Investors Service, a probe by the National Transportation Safety Board of a recent fatal crash and concerns about Model 3 production. The sell-off came after Tesla tumbled 8.2 per cent on last Tuesday, the lowest close in almost a year. Tesla was trading on Wednesday at $258.44, down $20.74 a share, off a low of $252.10. Late on Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating to B3 from B2. Moody’s said the ratings “reflect the significant shortfall in the production rate of the company’s Model 3 electric vehicle.” It also “faces liquidity pressures due to its large negative free cash flow and the pending maturities of convertible bonds.” Moody’s said its negative outlook for Tesla “reflects the likelihood that Tesla will have to undertake a large, near-term capital raise in order to refund maturing obligations and avoid a liquidity shortfall.” (With inputs from Reuters)

Elon Musk's hilarious April Fool's tweet silences speculation around Tesla's finances

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk never fails to take the world by surprise and his latest Twitter post seems to have reinstated the same. Earlier today Musk announced his latest project, a 'cyborg dragon'.&nbsp;

"Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon," read his tweet.

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Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/989198118666162176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Musk is known to have juggled multiple projects between SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company. Musk's latest announcement has got many raise an eyebrow and most scratching their head in wonder.&nbsp;

Musk did not give out any more details about his brand new project, however, Twitter broke into a wave of reactions mulling over and interpreting what could his tweet possibly mean.

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Are you trying to suggest that you're creating an actual, flesh-and-blood dragon with technological enhancements?? That'd be incredible!!
— Idiot College Intern Steve (@theidiotintern) <a href="https://twitter.com/theidiotintern/status/989204001848774656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
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There goes <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elonmusk</a>, dropping acid and inventing the future again.
— Yvette (@TheSciBabe) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSciBabe/status/989312869937246208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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A Proto Type perhaps? <a href="https://t.co/XHrFKTDnc2">pic.twitter.com/XHrFKTDnc2</a>
— Magma Admín Gardevoir (@MagmADGardevoir) <a href="https://twitter.com/MagmADGardevoir/status/989259520902942720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Earlier this month, Musk took to Twitter and posted a funny post declaring that <a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/elon-musks-hilarious-april-fools-tweet-silences-speculation-around-teslas-finances-127862">Tesla had gone bankrupt</a>. Musk's April Fool's post exhibited his humour-quotient (which is almost always spot on) and also silenced reports suggesting Tesla's shaky financial situation.&nbsp;

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Tesla Goes Bankrupt 
Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980566101124722688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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"Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it," read one of his tweets.&nbsp;

Musk's latest announcement got many raise an eyebrow and most scratching their head in wonder.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk never fails to take the world by surprise and his latest Twitter post seems to have reinstated the same. Earlier today Musk announced his latest project, a 'cyborg dragon'. "Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon," read his tweet. Oh btw I’m building a cyborg dragon — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2018 × Musk is known to have juggled multiple projects between SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company. Musk's latest announcement has got many raise an eyebrow and most scratching their head in wonder. Musk did not give out any more details about his brand new project, however, Twitter broke into a wave of reactions mulling over and interpreting what could his tweet possibly mean. Are you trying to suggest that you're creating an actual, flesh-and-blood dragon with technological enhancements?? That'd be incredible!! — Idiot College Intern Steve (@theidiotintern) April 25, 2018 × There goes @elonmusk, dropping acid and inventing the future again. — Yvette (@TheSciBabe) April 26, 2018 × A Proto Type perhaps? pic.twitter.com/XHrFKTDnc2 — Magma Admín Gardevoir (@MagmADGardevoir) April 25, 2018 × Earlier this month, Musk took to Twitter and posted a funny post declaring that Tesla had gone bankrupt. Musk's April Fool's post exhibited his humour-quotient (which is almost always spot on) and also silenced reports suggesting Tesla's shaky financial situation. Tesla Goes Bankrupt Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018 × "Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it," read one of his tweets.

Elon Musk's next project? He says he's 'building a cyborg dragon'

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/south-asia/us-designates-hafiz-saeeds-milli-muslim-league-as-terrorist-outfit-127961">US</a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/south-asia/us-designates-hafiz-saeeds-milli-muslim-league-as-terrorist-outfit-127961"> designates Hafiz Saeed's Milli Muslim League as </a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/south-asia/us-designates-hafiz-saeeds-milli-muslim-league-as-terrorist-outfit-127961">terrorist</a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/south-asia/us-designates-hafiz-saeeds-milli-muslim-league-as-terrorist-outfit-127961"> outfit</a>

In a major move ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, the US today designated Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organization.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/india-news/bharat-bandh-violence-special-forces-to-be-deployed-in-madhya-pradesh-127962">Bharat Bandh violence: Special forces to be deployed in Madhya Pradesh</a>

The Bharat Bandh called by Dalit outfits turned violent in many states on Monday including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/sports/india-under-scanner-over-doping-fears-at-commonwealth-games-127968">India under scanner over doping fears at Commonwealth Games</a>

The organizers of Commonwealth Games said they have summoned "undisclosed competing nation" after discarded needles were found at the Games village in Australia's Gold Coast.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/14-civilians-killed-in-clash-between-nigerian-army-boko-haram-militants-127951">14 civilians killed in </a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/14-civilians-killed-in-clash-between-nigerian-army-boko-haram-militants-127951">clash</a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/14-civilians-killed-in-clash-between-nigerian-army-boko-haram-militants-127951"> between Nigerian Army, Boko Haram militants</a>

Reportedly around 18 militants including suicide bombers, mortars and gunmen targeted two villages namely Bale Shuwa and Alkaranti and a military base near the city of Maiduguri, in Borno State.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/spacexs-dragon-launched-in-resupply-mission-to-iss-127966">SpaceX's 'Dragon' launched in </a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/spacexs-dragon-launched-in-resupply-mission-to-iss-127966">resupply</a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/spacexs-dragon-launched-in-resupply-mission-to-iss-127966"> mission to ISS</a>

The spacecraft was launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Monday. Within 10 minutes of its launch, the spacecraft was confirmed of having reached a "good orbit".

US designates Hafiz Saeed's Milli Muslim League as terrorist outfit In a major move ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, the US today designated Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organization. Bharat Bandh violence: Special forces to be deployed in Madhya Pradesh The Bharat Bandh called by Dalit outfits turned violent in many states on Monday including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand. India under scanner over doping fears at Commonwealth Games The organizers of Commonwealth Games said they have summoned "undisclosed competing nation" after discarded needles were found at the Games village in Australia's Gold Coast. 14 civilians killed in clash between Nigerian Army, Boko Haram militants Reportedly around 18 militants including suicide bombers, mortars and gunmen targeted two villages namely Bale Shuwa and Alkaranti and a military base near the city of Maiduguri, in Borno State. SpaceX's 'Dragon' launched in resupply mission to ISS The spacecraft was launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Monday. Within 10 minutes of its launch, the spacecraft was confirmed of having reached a "good orbit".

News brief: Five big stories of the day

Elon Musk-led SpaceX has launched Dragon spacecraft as part of its resupply mission to the International Space Station.&nbsp;

The spacecraft was launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Monday. Within 10 minutes of its launch, the spacecraft was confirmed of having reached a "good orbit".&nbsp;

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Right on schedule, solar arrays have been deployed on the <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpaceX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Dragon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Dragon</a> cargo spacecraft as it heads to <a href="https://twitter.com/Space_Station?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Space_Station</a>. Watch: <a href="https://t.co/C8BIw7hGzo">https://t.co/C8BIw7hGzo</a> <a href="https://t.co/OjC13uB8zj">pic.twitter.com/OjC13uB8zj</a>
— NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/980909013788315648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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'Dragon'&nbsp;left Earth packed with 2,630 kg of research, crew supplies and hardware. It is expected to attach to the space station on Wednesday after which it will spend close to a month attached to the ISS.

Dragon's return is scheduled around May with some results of completed experiments.

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Dragon is on its way to the International Space Station. Capture by <a href="https://twitter.com/Space_Station?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Space_Station</a> crew set for Wednesday morning.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/980909925865000963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Dragon's mission includes delivering scientific investigations such as studying severe thunderstorms on Earth, food growth in space, among others.

The spacecraft also carried equipment for testing and studying the effects of the harsh space environment on items, identifying potential pathogens in the station and investigating an antibiotic-releasing wound patch.

Dragon's return is scheduled around May with some results of completed experiments

Elon Musk-led SpaceX has launched Dragon spacecraft as part of its resupply mission to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Monday. Within 10 minutes of its launch, the spacecraft was confirmed of having reached a "good orbit". Right on schedule, solar arrays have been deployed on the @SpaceX #Dragon cargo spacecraft as it heads to @Space_Station. Watch: https://t.co/C8BIw7hGzo pic.twitter.com/OjC13uB8zj — NASA (@NASA) April 2, 2018 × 'Dragon' left Earth packed with 2,630 kg of research, crew supplies and hardware. It is expected to attach to the space station on Wednesday after which it will spend close to a month attached to the ISS. Dragon's return is scheduled around May with some results of completed experiments. Dragon is on its way to the International Space Station. Capture by @Space_Station crew set for Wednesday morning. — SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 2, 2018 × Dragon's mission includes delivering scientific investigations such as studying severe thunderstorms on Earth, food growth in space, among others. The spacecraft also carried equipment for testing and studying the effects of the harsh space environment on items, identifying potential pathogens in the station and investigating an antibiotic-releasing wound patch.

SpaceX's 'Dragon' launched in resupply mission to ISS

Tesla Inc said on Friday that a Tesla Model X involved a fatal crash in California last week had activated its Autopilot system, raising new questions about the semi-autonomous system that handles some driving tasks.

Tesla also said vehicle logs from the accident showed no action had been taken by the driver soon before the crash and that he had received earlier warnings to put his hands on the wheel.

"The driver had about five seconds and 150 meters of an unobstructed view of the concrete divider with the crushed crash attenuator, but the vehicle logs show that no action was taken," Tesla said.

The statement did not say why the Autopilot system apparently did not detect the concrete divider.

The fatal crash and vehicle fire of the Tesla near Mountain View, California, involved two other cars and delayed traffic for hours. The 38-year-old Tesla driver died at a nearby hospital shortly after the crash.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which launched an investigation into the crash earlier this week, did not immediately comment late Friday. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the fatal crash.

Autopilot allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel for extended periods under certain conditions. Tesla requires users to agree to keep their hands on the wheel “at all times” before they can use autopilot, but users routinely tout the fact they can use the system to drive hands-free.&nbsp

The NTSB faulted Tesla in a prior fatal autopilot crash.

In September, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said operational limitations in the Tesla Model S played a major role in a May 2016 crash that killed a driver using autopilot.

That death -- the first fatality in a Tesla vehicle operating in Autopilot mode -- raised questions about the safety of systems that can perform driving tasks for long stretches with little or no human intervention, but which cannot completely replace human drivers.

The NTSB said Tesla could have taken further steps to prevent the system's misuse, and faulted the driver for not paying attention and for "overreliance on vehicle automation."

In January, NHTSA and NTSB launched investigations into a Tesla vehicle, apparently travelling in semi-autonomous mode, that struck a fire truck in California. Neither agency nor Tesla has offered any update.

The government probes raise the risk for Tesla and automakers at a time when the industry is seeking federal legislation that would ease deployment of self-driving cars.

The crash comes soon after an Uber vehicle in Arizona in self-driving mode struck and killed a pedestrian in the first death linked to an autonomous vehicle.&nbsp

Tesla said late Friday that "Autopilot does not prevent all accidents – such a standard would be impossible – but it makes them much less likely to occur. It unequivocally makes the world safer for the vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists."&nbsp

Tesla said that in the United States "there is one automotive fatality every 86 million miles across all vehicles from all manufacturers. For Tesla, there is one fatality, including known pedestrian fatalities, every 320 million miles in vehicles equipped with Autopilot hardware."

Tesla in September 2016 unveiled improvements to Autopilot, adding new limits on hands-off driving.

On Thursday, Tesla said it was recalling 123,000 Model S sedans built before April 2016 in order to replace bolts in the power steering component that can begin to corrode after contact in cold temperatures with road salt. No accidents or injuries were reported.

Tesla also said vehicle logs from the accident showed no action had been taken by the driver soon before the crash

Tesla Inc said on Friday that a Tesla Model X involved a fatal crash in California last week had activated its Autopilot system, raising new questions about the semi-autonomous system that handles some driving tasks. Tesla also said vehicle logs from the accident showed no action had been taken by the driver soon before the crash and that he had received earlier warnings to put his hands on the wheel. "The driver had about five seconds and 150 meters of an unobstructed view of the concrete divider with the crushed crash attenuator, but the vehicle logs show that no action was taken," Tesla said. The statement did not say why the Autopilot system apparently did not detect the concrete divider. The fatal crash and vehicle fire of the Tesla near Mountain View, California, involved two other cars and delayed traffic for hours. The 38-year-old Tesla driver died at a nearby hospital shortly after the crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which launched an investigation into the crash earlier this week, did not immediately comment late Friday. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the fatal crash. Autopilot allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel for extended periods under certain conditions. Tesla requires users to agree to keep their hands on the wheel “at all times” before they can use autopilot, but users routinely tout the fact they can use the system to drive hands-free. The NTSB faulted Tesla in a prior fatal autopilot crash. In September, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said operational limitations in the Tesla Model S played a major role in a May 2016 crash that killed a driver using autopilot. That death -- the first fatality in a Tesla vehicle operating in Autopilot mode -- raised questions about the safety of systems that can perform driving tasks for long stretches with little or no human intervention, but which cannot completely replace human drivers. The NTSB said Tesla could have taken further steps to prevent the system's misuse, and faulted the driver for not paying attention and for "overreliance on vehicle automation." In January, NHTSA and NTSB launched investigations into a Tesla vehicle, apparently travelling in semi-autonomous mode, that struck a fire truck in California. Neither agency nor Tesla has offered any update. The government probes raise the risk for Tesla and automakers at a time when the industry is seeking federal legislation that would ease deployment of self-driving cars. The crash comes soon after an Uber vehicle in Arizona in self-driving mode struck and killed a pedestrian in the first death linked to an autonomous vehicle. Tesla said late Friday that "Autopilot does not prevent all accidents – such a standard would be impossible – but it makes them much less likely to occur. It unequivocally makes the world safer for the vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists." Tesla said that in the United States "there is one automotive fatality every 86 million miles across all vehicles from all manufacturers. For Tesla, there is one fatality, including known pedestrian fatalities, every 320 million miles in vehicles equipped with Autopilot hardware." Tesla in September 2016 unveiled improvements to Autopilot, adding new limits on hands-off driving. On Thursday, Tesla said it was recalling 123,000 Model S sedans built before April 2016 in order to replace bolts in the power steering component that can begin to corrode after contact in cold temperatures with road salt. No accidents or injuries were reported.

Tesla says crashed vehicle had been on autopilot prior to accident

The private space firm SpaceX on Friday launched with a partially-reused rocket the latest group of communication satellites to upgrade mobile, voice and data networks for Virginia-based firm Iridium.

"We have successful liftoff of the Falcon 9," a SpaceX commentator said after the rocket roared off with a tail of fiery exhaust above Vandenberg US Air Force base in California.

This is the fifth set of 10 satellites that SpaceX has launched for Iridium, whose $3 billion project is expected to include a total of 81 satellites -- with 75 launched by SpaceX.

The first stage of the rocket launched on Friday had been used in October for a previous launch as part of the project, known as Iridium NEXT.

SpaceX will not attempt to make another recovery of the rocket's first stage after Friday's launch.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk aims to make rockets as reusable as commercial airplanes, bringing down the cost of spaceflight and boosting efficiency.

In February the company's Falcon Heavy, the world's most powerful rocket, blasted off on its maiden test flight carrying Musk's cherry red Tesla roadster car.

The Iridium project, though less flamboyant, will replace the world's largest commercial satellite network of low-Earth orbit satellites in one of the largest "tech upgrades" in history, Iridium has said.

Some of the satellites are designed to help track ships and aircraft in real time.

The private space firm SpaceX on Friday launched with a partially-reused rocket the latest group of communication satellites to upgrade mobile, voice and data networks for Virginia-based firm Iridium

The private space firm SpaceX on Friday launched with a partially-reused rocket the latest group of communication satellites to upgrade mobile, voice and data networks for Virginia-based firm Iridium. "We have successful liftoff of the Falcon 9," a SpaceX commentator said after the rocket roared off with a tail of fiery exhaust above Vandenberg US Air Force base in California. This is the fifth set of 10 satellites that SpaceX has launched for Iridium, whose $3 billion project is expected to include a total of 81 satellites -- with 75 launched by SpaceX. The first stage of the rocket launched on Friday had been used in October for a previous launch as part of the project, known as Iridium NEXT. SpaceX will not attempt to make another recovery of the rocket's first stage after Friday's launch. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk aims to make rockets as reusable as commercial airplanes, bringing down the cost of spaceflight and boosting efficiency. In February the company's Falcon Heavy, the world's most powerful rocket, blasted off on its maiden test flight carrying Musk's cherry red Tesla roadster car. The Iridium project, though less flamboyant, will replace the world's largest commercial satellite network of low-Earth orbit satellites in one of the largest "tech upgrades" in history, Iridium has said. Some of the satellites are designed to help track ships and aircraft in real time.

SpaceX blasts off with Iridium satellite payload

Verified Facebook pages of&nbsp;Elon&nbsp;Musk&#39;s rocket company SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla Inc&nbsp;disappeared on Friday, minutes after the Silicon Valley billionaire promised on Twitter to take down the pages when challenged by users.

&quot;Delete SpaceX page on Facebook if you&#39;re the man?&quot; a user tweeted to Tesla Chief ExecutiveMusk. His response: &quot;I didn&#39;t realize there was one. Will do.&quot;&nbsp;

Facebook pages of SpaceX and Tesla, which had millions of followers, are no longer accessible.

Musk&nbsp;had begun the exchange by responding to a tweet from WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton on the #deletefacebook tag.

The hashtag gained prominence after the world&#39;s largest social network upset users by mishandling data, which ended up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica - a political consultancy that worked on U.S. President Donald Trump&#39;s 2016 election campaign.

&quot;What&#39;s Facebook?&quot;&nbsp;Musk&nbsp;tweeted.

Many users also urged the billionaire to delete the profiles of his companies on Facebook&#39;s photo-sharing app Instagram.

&quot;Instagram&#39;s probably ok ... so long as it stays fairly independent,&quot;&nbsp;Musk&nbsp;responded.

&quot;I don&#39;t use FB &amp; never have, so don&#39;t think I&#39;m some kind of martyr or my companies are taking a huge blow. Also, we don&rsquo;t advertise or pay for endorsements, so ... don&#39;t care.&quot;

Musk&nbsp;has had run-ins with Facebook Inc&nbsp;founder Mark Zuckerberg in the past.

Last year, a war of words broke out between&nbsp;Musk&nbsp;and Zuckerberg over whether robots will become smart enough to kill their human creators.

When Zuckerberg was asked about&nbsp;Musk&#39;s views on the dangers of robots, he chided &quot;naysayers&quot; whose &quot;doomsday scenarios&quot; were &quot;irresponsible.&quot;&nbsp;

In response,&nbsp;Musk&nbsp;tweeted: &quot;His understanding of the subject is limited.&quot;

"Delete SpaceX page on Facebook if you're the man?" a user tweeted to Tesla Chief ExecutiveMusk. His response: "I didn't realize there was one. Will do."

Verified Facebook pages of Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla Inc disappeared on Friday, minutes after the Silicon Valley billionaire promised on Twitter to take down the pages when challenged by users. "Delete SpaceX page on Facebook if you're the man?" a user tweeted to Tesla Chief ExecutiveMusk. His response: "I didn't realize there was one. Will do." Facebook pages of SpaceX and Tesla, which had millions of followers, are no longer accessible. Musk had begun the exchange by responding to a tweet from WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton on the #deletefacebook tag. The hashtag gained prominence after the world's largest social network upset users by mishandling data, which ended up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica - a political consultancy that worked on U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. "What's Facebook?" Musk tweeted. Many users also urged the billionaire to delete the profiles of his companies on Facebook's photo-sharing app Instagram. "Instagram's probably ok ... so long as it stays fairly independent," Musk responded. "I don't use FB & never have, so don't think I'm some kind of martyr or my companies are taking a huge blow. Also, we don’t advertise or pay for endorsements, so ... don't care." Musk has had run-ins with Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg in the past. Last year, a war of words broke out between Musk and Zuckerberg over whether robots will become smart enough to kill their human creators. When Zuckerberg was asked about Musk's views on the dangers of robots, he chided "naysayers" whose "doomsday scenarios" were "irresponsible." In response, Musk tweeted: "His understanding of the subject is limited."

Elon Musk deletes Facebook pages of Tesla, SpaceX after challenged on Twitter

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his estranged father Errol Musk engaged in a war of words. While 46-year-old Elon described his father to have a &quot;carefully thought-out plan of evil&quot;, he was called &quot;spoilt&quot; in turn by Errol Musk.&nbsp;

On Sunday, Errol told a leading daily that his son has always thrown tantrums and needs to grow up. Errol Musk, 72, recently had a baby with his 30-year-old girlfriend which shocked the Musk clan.

Elon, in an emotional interview with a leading American magazine, called his father &quot;a terrible human&quot;.

Errol on Sunday shared that Elon behaves like a spoilt child and made such statements as a result of an emotional turmoil.&nbsp;

&quot;I think Elon was emotionally fragile when he attacked me,&quot; Errol said who further added that he will wait until Elon &quot;comes to his senses&quot;.&nbsp;

Elon, in an emotional interview with a leading American magazine, called his father 'a terrible human'

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his estranged father Errol Musk engaged in a war of words. While 46-year-old Elon described his father to have a "carefully thought-out plan of evil", he was called "spoilt" in turn by Errol Musk. On Sunday, Errol told a leading daily that his son has always thrown tantrums and needs to grow up. Errol Musk, 72, recently had a baby with his 30-year-old girlfriend which shocked the Musk clan. Elon, in an emotional interview with a leading American magazine, called his father "a terrible human". Errol on Sunday shared that Elon behaves like a spoilt child and made such statements as a result of an emotional turmoil. "I think Elon was emotionally fragile when he attacked me," Errol said who further added that he will wait until Elon "comes to his senses".

Elon Musk describes his father as 'terrible man', gets called 'spoilt child' in return

Bases on the moon and Mars could help preserve human civilization and hasten its regeneration on earth in the event of a third world war, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, said on Sunday.

Musk, the founder of rocket and spacecraft company SpaceX, said the company`s interplanetary ship could begin test flights as soon as next year.

There is &quot;some probability&quot; that there will be another Dark Ages, &quot;particularly if there is a third world war,&quot; Musk said at the SXSW conference.

&quot;We want to make sure that there`s enough of a seed of human civilization somewhere else to bring civilization back, and perhaps shorten the length of the Dark Ages,&quot; he said.

&quot;I think a moon base and a Mars base that could perhaps help regenerate life back here on earth would be really important.&quot;

Musk said he thinks that SpaceX`s interplanetary ship will &quot;be able to do short flights, short sort of up and down flights, probably sometime in the first half of next year.&quot;

SpaceX launched the world`s most powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy, last month, sending Musk`s red Tesla Roadster car toward an orbit near Mars.

"I think a moon base and a Mars base that could perhaps help regenerate life back here on earth would be really important.", said Elon

Bases on the moon and Mars could help preserve human civilization and hasten its regeneration on earth in the event of a third world war, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, said on Sunday. Musk, the founder of rocket and spacecraft company SpaceX, said the company`s interplanetary ship could begin test flights as soon as next year. There is "some probability" that there will be another Dark Ages, "particularly if there is a third world war," Musk said at the SXSW conference. "We want to make sure that there`s enough of a seed of human civilization somewhere else to bring civilization back, and perhaps shorten the length of the Dark Ages," he said. "I think a moon base and a Mars base that could perhaps help regenerate life back here on earth would be really important." Musk said he thinks that SpaceX`s interplanetary ship will "be able to do short flights, short sort of up and down flights, probably sometime in the first half of next year." SpaceX launched the world`s most powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy, last month, sending Musk`s red Tesla Roadster car toward an orbit near Mars.

Space bases could preserve civilization in World War III: Elon Musk

Elon Musk&#39;s SpaceX is all set to launch its Mars rocket by next year. During the SXSW festival on Sunday, Musk shared details of the first &quot;interplanetary ship&quot; which will be equipped for making short flights.&nbsp;

The rocket is likely to get ready by the first half of 2019.&nbsp;

One of the long-cherished desires in Musk&#39;s heart has always been the vision of sending humans to live on Mars; to colonise the Red Planet but not to become the ultimate ruler!&nbsp;

He previously described colonizing Mars as a huge &quot;entrepreneurial opportunity&quot; adding that the planet, if colonised, should have the best all that Earth has, from pizza joints to great bars, &quot;a Mars Bar&quot;.&nbsp;

Musk shared details of the first 'interplanetary ship'

Elon Musk's SpaceX is all set to launch its Mars rocket by next year. During the SXSW festival on Sunday, Musk shared details of the first "interplanetary ship" which will be equipped for making short flights. The rocket is likely to get ready by the first half of 2019. One of the long-cherished desires in Musk's heart has always been the vision of sending humans to live on Mars; to colonise the Red Planet but not to become the ultimate ruler! He previously described colonizing Mars as a huge "entrepreneurial opportunity" adding that the planet, if colonised, should have the best all that Earth has, from pizza joints to great bars, "a Mars Bar".

Mars rocket to get ready and fly 'short flights' by next year: Elon Musk

Elon Musk&#39;s car that was recently shot into space as part of SpaceX&#39;s rocket test flight will likely collide with Earth or Venus eventually, scientists say.

&quot;It will likely end up colliding with Earth or Venus, but there&#39;s no need to panic since the probability of that happening even within the next million years is very small,&quot; said Hanno Rein, an assistant professor at University of Toronto in Canada.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/opinion-elon-musk-wants-to-reach-mars-is-it-a-great-idea-32066">Elon Musk wants to reach Mars. Is it a great idea?</a>

The car was sent into space as part of the payload for SpaceX&#39;s Falcon Heavy test flight on February 6.

While rocket test flights usually have a dummy payload, SpaceX founder Musk sent up his personal Tesla Roadster instead.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/spacex-poised-to-launch-worlds-most-powerful-rocket-31995">SpaceX poised to launch &#39;world&#39;s most powerful rocket&#39;</a>

Though the car does not have any scientific instruments on board, it is now classified as a near-earth object, and is being tracked by NASA&#39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory along with other objects that will travel relatively close to Earth.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/worlds-biggest-rocket-spacexs-falcon-heavy-soars-toward-mars-after-perfect-launch-32050">SpaceX sends a sports car into space with world&#39;s most powerful rocket</a>

After running a series of simulations using sophisticated software that can track the motion of objects in space, they determined the probability of it colliding with Earth and Venus over the next one million years to be six per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-musks-tesla-overshoots-mars-orbit-32245">Musk&#39;s Tesla overshoots Mars orbit</a>

They also determined that the first close encounter the Tesla will have with us will be in 2091, when it will pass within a few hundred thousand kilometres of Earth.

The car is currently on a Mars and Earth crossing orbit, meaning it will travel on an elliptical path that repeatedly carries it beyond Mars and then back to Earth&#39;s orbital distance from the sun.

How the car&#39;s orbit evolves over time will depend a lot on its encounters with Earth, especially how close it will get to Earth since any small change in its trajectory could have a large effect on its orbit.

While the path of the car can be accurately predicted in terms of years, after hundreds of years and many close encounters with Earth it becomes impossible to predict the object&#39;s precise orbit.

By studying a large number of orbital simulations, however, the researchers were able to arrive at a statistical distribution of possible outcomes.

&quot;Each time it passes Earth, the car will get a gravitational kick,&quot; said Dan Tamayo, a postdoctoral fellow at University of Toronto.

&quot;Depending on the details of these encounters, the Tesla can be kicked onto a wider or smaller orbit, so it&#39;s random,&quot; Tamayo said.

&quot;Over time the orbit will undergo what&#39;s called a random walk, similar to the fluctuations we see in the stock market, that will allow it to wander the inner solar system,&quot; he said.

While they only ran simulations for the first three million years of its space journey, the most likely outcome for the Tesla is for it to crash into Earth or Venus in the next 10 million years or so.

&quot;Although we are not able to tell on which planet the car will ultimately end up, we&#39;re comfortable saying it won&#39;t survive in space for more than a few tens of millions of years,&quot; he said.

While the car&#39;s likely final destination is Earth, they note there&#39;s nothing to fear since much or all of it will likely burn up in the atmosphere.&nbsp;

'But there's no need to panic since the probability of that happening even within the next million years is very small,' say the experts

Elon Musk's car that was recently shot into space as part of SpaceX's rocket test flight will likely collide with Earth or Venus eventually, scientists say. "It will likely end up colliding with Earth or Venus, but there's no need to panic since the probability of that happening even within the next million years is very small," said Hanno Rein, an assistant professor at University of Toronto in Canada. Also read: Elon Musk wants to reach Mars. Is it a great idea? The car was sent into space as part of the payload for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy test flight on February 6. While rocket test flights usually have a dummy payload, SpaceX founder Musk sent up his personal Tesla Roadster instead. Also read: SpaceX poised to launch 'world's most powerful rocket' Though the car does not have any scientific instruments on board, it is now classified as a near-earth object, and is being tracked by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory along with other objects that will travel relatively close to Earth. Also read: SpaceX sends a sports car into space with world's most powerful rocket After running a series of simulations using sophisticated software that can track the motion of objects in space, they determined the probability of it colliding with Earth and Venus over the next one million years to be six per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively. Also read: Musk's Tesla overshoots Mars orbit They also determined that the first close encounter the Tesla will have with us will be in 2091, when it will pass within a few hundred thousand kilometres of Earth. The car is currently on a Mars and Earth crossing orbit, meaning it will travel on an elliptical path that repeatedly carries it beyond Mars and then back to Earth's orbital distance from the sun. How the car's orbit evolves over time will depend a lot on its encounters with Earth, especially how close it will get to Earth since any small change in its trajectory could have a large effect on its orbit. While the path of the car can be accurately predicted in terms of years, after hundreds of years and many close encounters with Earth it becomes impossible to predict the object's precise orbit. By studying a large number of orbital simulations, however, the researchers were able to arrive at a statistical distribution of possible outcomes. "Each time it passes Earth, the car will get a gravitational kick," said Dan Tamayo, a postdoctoral fellow at University of Toronto. "Depending on the details of these encounters, the Tesla can be kicked onto a wider or smaller orbit, so it's random," Tamayo said. "Over time the orbit will undergo what's called a random walk, similar to the fluctuations we see in the stock market, that will allow it to wander the inner solar system," he said. While they only ran simulations for the first three million years of its space journey, the most likely outcome for the Tesla is for it to crash into Earth or Venus in the next 10 million years or so. "Although we are not able to tell on which planet the car will ultimately end up, we're comfortable saying it won't survive in space for more than a few tens of millions of years," he said. While the car's likely final destination is Earth, they note there's nothing to fear since much or all of it will likely burn up in the atmosphere.

Musk's car shot into space likely to collide with Earth

After Elon Musk&rsquo;s Tesla Roadster was successfully mounted atop SpaceX&rsquo;s Falcon Heavy and launched into space, the vehicle is now reported to have travelled farther out into the Solar System.

Musk&#39;s&nbsp;Tesla Roadster was originally supposed to be around the Sun and travel to the Mars&nbsp;orbit. The rocket carrying the car is reported to have overshot the trajectory going on to an orbit that extends beyond the Mars&nbsp;path.&nbsp;

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Third burn successful. Exceeded Mars orbit and kept going to the Asteroid Belt. <a href="https://t.co/bKhRN73WHF">pic.twitter.com/bKhRN73WHF</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/961083704230674438?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2018</a></blockquote>
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According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the vehicle may make it to the asteroid belt.

Musk had previously noted that there were slim chances of the car-carrying rocket to hit the Red Planet.&nbsp;

Tesla Roadster will be at its closest to Mars in October of 2020.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Be6VZEzgAEk/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Last pic of Starman in Roadster enroute to Mars orbit and then the Asteroid Belt</a>

<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/elonmusk/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Elon Musk</a> (@elonmusk) on <time datetime="2018-02-07T22:00:57+00:00" style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;">Feb 7, 2018 at 2:00pm PST</time>
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Falcon Heavy, touted as the world&#39;s most powerful rocket in operation, is also one of Elon Musk&#39;s most ambitious projects.&nbsp;

The spacecraft is expected to ferry people to the moon or Mars in future.&nbsp;

Musk had previously noted that there were slim chances of the vehicle to hit the Red Planet

After Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster was successfully mounted atop SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and launched into space, the vehicle is now reported to have travelled farther out into the Solar System. Musk's Tesla Roadster was originally supposed to be around the Sun and travel to the Mars orbit. The rocket carrying the car is reported to have overshot the trajectory going on to an orbit that extends beyond the Mars path. Third burn successful. Exceeded Mars orbit and kept going to the Asteroid Belt. pic.twitter.com/bKhRN73WHF — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2018 × According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the vehicle may make it to the asteroid belt. Musk had previously noted that there were slim chances of the car-carrying rocket to hit the Red Planet. Tesla Roadster will be at its closest to Mars in October of 2020. Last pic of Starman in Roadster enroute to Mars orbit and then the Asteroid Belt A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Feb 7, 2018 at 2:00pm PST × Falcon Heavy, touted as the world's most powerful rocket in operation, is also one of Elon Musk's most ambitious projects. The spacecraft is expected to ferry people to the moon or Mars in future.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch: Musk's Tesla overshoots Mars orbit

The world&#39;s most powerful rocket, SpaceX&#39;s Falcon Heavy, roared into space through clear blue skies in its debut test flight on Tuesday from a Florida launch site where moon missions once began, in another milestone for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk&#39;s private rocket company.

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The 23-story-tall jumbo rocket, carrying a cherry red Tesla Roadster automobile into space as a mock payload, thundered off its launchpad in billowing clouds of steam and rocket exhaust at 3:45 pm (2045 GMT) at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

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&nbsp;

Boisterous cheering could be heard from SpaceX workers at the company&#39;s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, where a livestream feed of the event originated. Several hundred spectators packed a campground near Cocoa Beach, 5 miles (8 km) from the space centre, to watch the blastoff.

Musk previously said one of the most critical points of the flight would come as two side boosters separated from the central rocket within three minutes of launch. That occurred seemingly without a hitch.

Then, capitalizing on cost-cutting reusable rocket technology pioneered by SpaceX, the two side boosters flew themselves back to Earth for safe simultaneous touchdowns on twin landing pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station about eight minutes after launch. The centre booster was expected for a return landing on a drone ship floating at sea, but its fate was not immediately known.

Musk told reporters on the eve of the rocket&#39;s test flight that he would &quot;consider it a win if it just clears the (launch) pad.&quot;

While the Falcon Heavy&#39;s initial performance appeared, by all accounts, to have been near flawless, it remained to be seen whether the upper stage of the vehicle and its payload would survive a six-hour &quot;cruise&quot; phase to high Earth orbit through the planet&#39;s radiation belts.

Turning point

The launch, so powerful that it shook the walls of the press trailer at the complex, was conducted from the same site used by NASA&#39;s towering Saturn 5 rockets to carry Apollo missions to the moon more than 40 years ago. SpaceX has said it aspires to send missions to Mars in the coming years.

The successful liftoff was a key turning point for Musk&#39;s privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, which stands to gain a new edge over the handful of rivals vying for lucrative contracts with NASA, satellite companies and the US military.

Falcon Heavy is designed to place up to 70 tons into standard low-Earth orbit at a cost of $90 million per launch. That is twice the lift capacity of the biggest existing rocket in America&#39;s space fleet - the Delta 4 Heavy of rival United Launch Alliance (ULA), a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co - for about a fourth the cost.

The demonstration flight put the Falcon Heavy into the annals of spaceflight as the world&#39;s most powerful rocket in operation, with more lift capacity than any space vehicle to fly since NASA&#39;s Saturn 5, which was retired in 1973, or the Soviet-era Energia, which flew its last mission in 1988.

Propelled by 27 rocket engines, the Falcon Heavy packs more than 5 million pounds of thrust at launch, roughly three times the force of the Falcon 9 booster rocket that until now has been the workhorse of the SpaceX fleet. The new heavy-lift rocket is essentially constructed from three Falcon 9s harnessed together side by side.

Going along for the ride in a bit of playful cross-promotional space theatre was the sleek red, electric-powered sports car from the assembly line of Musk&#39;s other transportation enterprise, Tesla Inc.

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View from SpaceX Launch Control. Apparently, there is a car in orbit around Earth. <a href="https://t.co/QljN2VnL1O">pic.twitter.com/QljN2VnL1O</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/960992715579125760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The Tesla Roadster is supposed to be sent into a virtually indefinite solar orbit, on a path taking it as far from Earth as Mars. Adding to the whimsy, SpaceX has planted a space-suited mannequin in the driver&#39;s seat of the convertible.

Whether the car makes it onto its planned trajectory will not be known before late on Tuesday, SpaceX said. The roadster, which carries a plaque inscribed with the names of more than 6,000 SpaceX employees, could instead end up in Earth orbit.

The launch followed an impressive run of successful paid missions - 20 in all since January 2017, when SpaceX returned to flight following a 2016 launchpad accident that destroyed a $62 million rocket and a $200 million Israeli communications satellite that it was to put into orbit two days later.

SpaceX had previously announced plans to eventually use the Falcon Heavy to launch two paying space tourists on a trip around the moon and back. Musk said on Monday he was now inclined to reserve that mission for development of an even more powerful SpaceX launch system, the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, which he said was proceeding more quickly than expected.

The maiden flight also marked the first time a privately financed rocket ever attempted to boost a payload out of Earth's orbit

The world's most powerful rocket, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, roared into space through clear blue skies in its debut test flight on Tuesday from a Florida launch site where moon missions once began, in another milestone for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's private rocket company. × The 23-story-tall jumbo rocket, carrying a cherry red Tesla Roadster automobile into space as a mock payload, thundered off its launchpad in billowing clouds of steam and rocket exhaust at 3:45 pm (2045 GMT) at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. × Boisterous cheering could be heard from SpaceX workers at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, where a livestream feed of the event originated. Several hundred spectators packed a campground near Cocoa Beach, 5 miles (8 km) from the space centre, to watch the blastoff. Musk previously said one of the most critical points of the flight would come as two side boosters separated from the central rocket within three minutes of launch. That occurred seemingly without a hitch. Then, capitalizing on cost-cutting reusable rocket technology pioneered by SpaceX, the two side boosters flew themselves back to Earth for safe simultaneous touchdowns on twin landing pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station about eight minutes after launch. The centre booster was expected for a return landing on a drone ship floating at sea, but its fate was not immediately known. Musk told reporters on the eve of the rocket's test flight that he would "consider it a win if it just clears the (launch) pad." While the Falcon Heavy's initial performance appeared, by all accounts, to have been near flawless, it remained to be seen whether the upper stage of the vehicle and its payload would survive a six-hour "cruise" phase to high Earth orbit through the planet's radiation belts. Turning point The launch, so powerful that it shook the walls of the press trailer at the complex, was conducted from the same site used by NASA's towering Saturn 5 rockets to carry Apollo missions to the moon more than 40 years ago. SpaceX has said it aspires to send missions to Mars in the coming years. The successful liftoff was a key turning point for Musk's privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, which stands to gain a new edge over the handful of rivals vying for lucrative contracts with NASA, satellite companies and the US military. Falcon Heavy is designed to place up to 70 tons into standard low-Earth orbit at a cost of $90 million per launch. That is twice the lift capacity of the biggest existing rocket in America's space fleet - the Delta 4 Heavy of rival United Launch Alliance (ULA), a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co - for about a fourth the cost. The demonstration flight put the Falcon Heavy into the annals of spaceflight as the world's most powerful rocket in operation, with more lift capacity than any space vehicle to fly since NASA's Saturn 5, which was retired in 1973, or the Soviet-era Energia, which flew its last mission in 1988. Propelled by 27 rocket engines, the Falcon Heavy packs more than 5 million pounds of thrust at launch, roughly three times the force of the Falcon 9 booster rocket that until now has been the workhorse of the SpaceX fleet. The new heavy-lift rocket is essentially constructed from three Falcon 9s harnessed together side by side. Going along for the ride in a bit of playful cross-promotional space theatre was the sleek red, electric-powered sports car from the assembly line of Musk's other transportation enterprise, Tesla Inc. View from SpaceX Launch Control. Apparently, there is a car in orbit around Earth. pic.twitter.com/QljN2VnL1O — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2018 × The Tesla Roadster is supposed to be sent into a virtually indefinite solar orbit, on a path taking it as far from Earth as Mars. Adding to the whimsy, SpaceX has planted a space-suited mannequin in the driver's seat of the convertible. Whether the car makes it onto its planned trajectory will not be known before late on Tuesday, SpaceX said. The roadster, which carries a plaque inscribed with the names of more than 6,000 SpaceX employees, could instead end up in Earth orbit. The launch followed an impressive run of successful paid missions - 20 in all since January 2017, when SpaceX returned to flight following a 2016 launchpad accident that destroyed a $62 million rocket and a $200 million Israeli communications satellite that it was to put into orbit two days later. SpaceX had previously announced plans to eventually use the Falcon Heavy to launch two paying space tourists on a trip around the moon and back. Musk said on Monday he was now inclined to reserve that mission for development of an even more powerful SpaceX launch system, the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, which he said was proceeding more quickly than expected.

Watch: SpaceX sends a sports car into space with world's most powerful rocket

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-moves-bill-to-end-non-defence-aid-to-pakistan-32055">US House of Representatives moves bill to end &#39;non-defence aid&#39; to Pakistan</a>

The bill seeks to divert the money for infrastructure projects in the United States.

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/two-killed-over-200-injured-in-64-magnitude-taiwan-earthquake-32045">2 killed, over 200 injured in 6.4-magnitude Taiwan earthquake</a>

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the coastal city of Hualien in Taiwan late on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey&nbsp;said. 
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<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/worlds-biggest-rocket-spacexs-falcon-heavy-soars-toward-mars-after-perfect-launch-32050">SpaceX sends a sports car into space with world&#39;s most powerful rocket</a>

The world&#39;s most powerful rocket, SpaceX&#39;s Falcon Heavy, roared into space through clear blue skies in its debut test flight on Tuesday.

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-tells-pentagon-to-plan-a-military-parade-32046">Trump tells Pentagon to plan military parade</a>

US President Donald Trump has asked for a military parade to showcase American muscle and underscore his role as commander-in-chief.

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/entertainment-prepping-for-no-more-tours-2-in-spring-ozzy-osbourne-says-im-not-retiring-32052">Prepping for &#39;No More Tours 2&#39; in spring, Ozzy Osbourne says &#39;I&#39;m not retiring</a>

Black Sabbath star Ozzy Osbourne will kickstart last tour of his life this spring but will continue performing gigs around the world, he confirmed.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the coastal city of Hualien in Taiwan late on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said.

US House of Representatives moves bill to end 'non-defence aid' to Pakistan The bill seeks to divert the money for infrastructure projects in the United States. 2 killed, over 200 injured in 6.4-magnitude Taiwan earthquake A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the coastal city of Hualien in Taiwan late on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said. SpaceX sends a sports car into space with world's most powerful rocket The world's most powerful rocket, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, roared into space through clear blue skies in its debut test flight on Tuesday. Trump tells Pentagon to plan military parade US President Donald Trump has asked for a military parade to showcase American muscle and underscore his role as commander-in-chief. Prepping for 'No More Tours 2' in spring, Ozzy Osbourne says 'I'm not retiring Black Sabbath star Ozzy Osbourne will kickstart last tour of his life this spring but will continue performing gigs around the world, he confirmed.

WION Morning News brief, February 7, 2018

SpaceX is poised for the first test launch Tuesday of its Falcon Heavy, which aims to become the world&#39;s most powerful rocket, capable of ferrying people to the Moon or Mars some day.

No people are on board, just a mannequin wearing a futuristic spacesuit, strapped into CEO Elon Musk&#39;s very own cherry red Tesla car.&nbsp;

&quot;Starman in a Red Roadster,&quot; Musk posted on Instagram Monday, showing the rocket&#39;s payload on a pedestal, aiming skyward.

The blast-off is scheduled for 1:30 pm (1830 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The destination is deep space, into an orbit about the same distance from the Sun as Mars -- but not all that close to the Red Planet itself.

Musk has cautioned that the maiden launch of the Falcon Heavy may indeed fail.

&quot;Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn&#39;t blow up on ascent,&quot; Musk, said on Twitter in December.

But the test launch could be a game-changer for SpaceX -- already a top cargo supplier to the International Space Station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA -- as it seeks to gain a bigger piece of the commercial space market.

The launch is also a milestone in US-based efforts to send astronauts to space, a capacity lost when the US space shuttle program was retired in 2011.

Since then, the world&#39;s astronauts have relied on Russian Soyuz rockets for transport to the International Space Station.

Most powerful in operation&nbsp;

&quot;Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars,&quot; SpaceX said in a statement.

&quot;When Falcon Heavy lifts off, it will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two,&quot; it added.

&quot;Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost.&quot;

The Delta IV Heavy costs about $350 million per launch, according to United Launch Alliance.&nbsp;

The Falcon Heavy is essentially three Falcon 9 rockets in one, with a total of 27 Merlin engines.

These engines &quot;together generate more than five million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft,&quot; said SpaceX.&nbsp;

The rocket is designed to carry nearly 141,000 pounds (64 metric tons) into orbit, more than the mass of a fully loaded 737 jetliner.

Previous rockets that are no longer in commission have been more powerful than the Falcon Heavy -- including the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, which delivered more payload to orbit.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

No people are on board, just a mannequin wearing a futuristic spacesuit

SpaceX is poised for the first test launch Tuesday of its Falcon Heavy, which aims to become the world's most powerful rocket, capable of ferrying people to the Moon or Mars some day. No people are on board, just a mannequin wearing a futuristic spacesuit, strapped into CEO Elon Musk's very own cherry red Tesla car. "Starman in a Red Roadster," Musk posted on Instagram Monday, showing the rocket's payload on a pedestal, aiming skyward. The blast-off is scheduled for 1:30 pm (1830 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The destination is deep space, into an orbit about the same distance from the Sun as Mars -- but not all that close to the Red Planet itself. Musk has cautioned that the maiden launch of the Falcon Heavy may indeed fail. "Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn't blow up on ascent," Musk, said on Twitter in December. But the test launch could be a game-changer for SpaceX -- already a top cargo supplier to the International Space Station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA -- as it seeks to gain a bigger piece of the commercial space market. The launch is also a milestone in US-based efforts to send astronauts to space, a capacity lost when the US space shuttle program was retired in 2011. Since then, the world's astronauts have relied on Russian Soyuz rockets for transport to the International Space Station. Most powerful in operation "Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars," SpaceX said in a statement. "When Falcon Heavy lifts off, it will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two," it added. "Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost." The Delta IV Heavy costs about $350 million per launch, according to United Launch Alliance. The Falcon Heavy is essentially three Falcon 9 rockets in one, with a total of 27 Merlin engines. These engines "together generate more than five million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft," said SpaceX. The rocket is designed to carry nearly 141,000 pounds (64 metric tons) into orbit, more than the mass of a fully loaded 737 jetliner. Previous rockets that are no longer in commission have been more powerful than the Falcon Heavy -- including the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, which delivered more payload to orbit.

SpaceX poised to launch 'world's most powerful rocket'

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk plans to blast off his own Tesla roadster Tuesday, atop the world&#39;s most powerful rocket in operation, the Falcon Heavy, to the tune of David Bowie&#39;s &quot;Space Oddity.&quot;&nbsp;

Here are some of the other far-out space projects that Musk has cooked up in recent years.

Reusable rockets&nbsp;

To bring down the cost of spaceflight and boost efficiency, a key goal for Musk is to make rockets as re-usable as commercial airplanes, instead of tossing the multi-million dollar components after each launch.&nbsp;

After some early crashes and near-misses that prompted SpaceX to showcase them in a blooper reel, the company has now perfected the art of firing the booster&#39;s engines, maneuvering the grid fins and neatly landing the tall portion of the rockets upright on solid ground and on ocean platforms.

Musk&#39;s not the only one to have done it -- competitor Blue Origin, a rocket company run by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, has also managed to land its own rockets in a similar fashion.

But no one has done it so many times. SpaceX has landed 21 of its Falcon 9 boosters so far.

Colonizing Mars&nbsp;

Musk wants to make humans an &quot;interplanetary species&quot; by establishing a colony of people living on the Mars.&nbsp;

Riding on reusable rockets and spaceships -- still under development -- people could travel 100 at a time to the Red Planet.&nbsp;

The idea is to bring up to a million people to Mars in the next century. Test flights could start in the next decade.

The cost to develop the rocket and spacecraft is estimated at $10 billion.

&nbsp;BFR&nbsp;

SpaceX is calling the rocket that would carry all these people to Mars &quot;BFR,&quot; which Musk has jokingly -- or not -- referred to as code for &quot;Big F-ing Rocket.&quot;&nbsp;

According to Spacenews.com, its formal name is now understood to be &quot;Big Falcon Rocket.&quot;

The idea is to have one booster and ship that replaces three of SpaceX&#39;s signature projects -- the Falcon 9 rocket which blasts off the Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station, the Falcon Heavy which aims to be the world&#39;s most powerful rocket for now, and may one day ferry supplies to Mars.

The BFR is designed to stand 106 meters tall, with 10.8 million pounds of thrust, far more than the Saturn V moon rocket at 7.9 million pounds of thrust.&nbsp;

The first tests could come as early 2019, with orbital tests in 2020.

The first cargo shipments could make it to Mars in 2022, SpaceX has said.

Rockets on Earth &nbsp;

New York to Shanghai via rocket in 39 minutes? It&#39;s all part of Musk&#39;s vision for rocket travel on Earth.

The BFR will be the vehicle, Musk has vowed, to fly to most places on Earth in under 30 mins and anywhere in under 60.

The cost per seat would be about the same as an airplane economy fare, he said.

Cargo and crew to space&nbsp;

It&#39;s seems like old news now, but SpaceX made history in 2010 by becoming the first private company to send its own spaceship to orbit and recover it.

In 2012, SpaceX broke barriers again, sending its Dragon cargo ship to the orbiting International Space Station.

That same year, SpaceX began regular cargo missions to supply the astronauts living in space with its gum-drop shaped Dragon cargo ship, launched atop the Falcon 9 rocket, under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.

Orbital ATK also sends its unmanned Cygnus cargo carrier to the ISS under a $1.9 billion deal with NASA.&nbsp;

SpaceX&#39;s Dragon is the only ship that can be returned to Earth intact. The Cygnus burns up on re-entry to Earth&#39;s atmosphere.

SpaceX is developing a crew Dragon vehicle that will be able to transport several astronauts at a time to the space lab. Its first manned flight could come later this year. 
&nbsp;

SpaceX will launch the world's most powerful rocket Tuesday, with a car strapped on top and David Bowie's Space Oddity playing in the background

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk plans to blast off his own Tesla roadster Tuesday, atop the world's most powerful rocket in operation, the Falcon Heavy, to the tune of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." Here are some of the other far-out space projects that Musk has cooked up in recent years. Reusable rockets To bring down the cost of spaceflight and boost efficiency, a key goal for Musk is to make rockets as re-usable as commercial airplanes, instead of tossing the multi-million dollar components after each launch. After some early crashes and near-misses that prompted SpaceX to showcase them in a blooper reel, the company has now perfected the art of firing the booster's engines, maneuvering the grid fins and neatly landing the tall portion of the rockets upright on solid ground and on ocean platforms. Musk's not the only one to have done it -- competitor Blue Origin, a rocket company run by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, has also managed to land its own rockets in a similar fashion. But no one has done it so many times. SpaceX has landed 21 of its Falcon 9 boosters so far. Colonizing Mars Musk wants to make humans an "interplanetary species" by establishing a colony of people living on the Mars. Riding on reusable rockets and spaceships -- still under development -- people could travel 100 at a time to the Red Planet. The idea is to bring up to a million people to Mars in the next century. Test flights could start in the next decade. The cost to develop the rocket and spacecraft is estimated at $10 billion. BFR SpaceX is calling the rocket that would carry all these people to Mars "BFR," which Musk has jokingly -- or not -- referred to as code for "Big F-ing Rocket." According to Spacenews.com, its formal name is now understood to be "Big Falcon Rocket." The idea is to have one booster and ship that replaces three of SpaceX's signature projects -- the Falcon 9 rocket which blasts off the Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station, the Falcon Heavy which aims to be the world's most powerful rocket for now, and may one day ferry supplies to Mars. The BFR is designed to stand 106 meters tall, with 10.8 million pounds of thrust, far more than the Saturn V moon rocket at 7.9 million pounds of thrust. The first tests could come as early 2019, with orbital tests in 2020. The first cargo shipments could make it to Mars in 2022, SpaceX has said. Rockets on Earth New York to Shanghai via rocket in 39 minutes? It's all part of Musk's vision for rocket travel on Earth. The BFR will be the vehicle, Musk has vowed, to fly to most places on Earth in under 30 mins and anywhere in under 60. The cost per seat would be about the same as an airplane economy fare, he said. Cargo and crew to space It's seems like old news now, but SpaceX made history in 2010 by becoming the first private company to send its own spaceship to orbit and recover it. In 2012, SpaceX broke barriers again, sending its Dragon cargo ship to the orbiting International Space Station. That same year, SpaceX began regular cargo missions to supply the astronauts living in space with its gum-drop shaped Dragon cargo ship, launched atop the Falcon 9 rocket, under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA. Orbital ATK also sends its unmanned Cygnus cargo carrier to the ISS under a $1.9 billion deal with NASA. SpaceX's Dragon is the only ship that can be returned to Earth intact. The Cygnus burns up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere. SpaceX is developing a crew Dragon vehicle that will be able to transport several astronauts at a time to the space lab. Its first manned flight could come later this year.

Five things to know about Elon Musk's space projects

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Wednesday carrying into orbit a Luxembourg-made communications satellite designed in part to expand NATO`s surveillance reach and its capability to deter cyber attacks on alliance members.

The liftoff at 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station followed a technical glitch that prompted a 24-hour flight delay. It marked the second rocket launch this year for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and his privately owned Space Exploration Technologies.

It comes a week before the California-based company is slated to conduct its highly anticipated first test flight of the much larger and more powerful Falcon Heavy rocket, which packs three times the thrust of the Falcon 9.

Wednesday`s payload is a communications satellite built for LuxGovSat S.A., a public-private joint venture between the Luxembourg government and Luxembourg-based telecommunications company SES, in part to fulfil that nation`s growing defence obligations to NATO.

The so-called GovSat-1 satellite will provide, among other things, greater cyber protection for Luxembourg`s European Union partners and NATO allies, including the United States, Luxembourg Defense Minister Etienne Schneider told a news conference on Tuesday.

GovSat-1 also will serve civilian telecommunications security functions.

Thirty-four minutes after liftoff, the satellite was successfully released into orbit 22,370 miles(36,000 km) above the equator, where it will circle the Earth for 15 years, according to SpaceX.

A spokesman for Schneider said the $279 million satellite, which weighs about 4-1/2 tons, is part of a broader policy of doubling the country`s contributions to NATO.

Citing new security threats, a senior NATO official told Reuters in March that the alliance planned to spend more than $3 billion on defence technology, a third of which would go toward satellite communications.&nbsp;

Unlike many recent SpaceX launches, no attempt was made to retrieve the rocket`s reusable main-stage because the SES satellite had to be carried to a higher Earth orbit, leaving the booster without sufficient fuel to fly back to Earth for a return landing.

The same Falcon 9 booster was used last year in a mission to launch a top-secret payload into space for the U.S. government.

&nbsp;

The same Falcon 9 booster was used last year in a mission to launch a top-secret payload into space for the U.S. government

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Wednesday carrying into orbit a Luxembourg-made communications satellite designed in part to expand NATO`s surveillance reach and its capability to deter cyber attacks on alliance members. The liftoff at 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station followed a technical glitch that prompted a 24-hour flight delay. It marked the second rocket launch this year for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and his privately owned Space Exploration Technologies. It comes a week before the California-based company is slated to conduct its highly anticipated first test flight of the much larger and more powerful Falcon Heavy rocket, which packs three times the thrust of the Falcon 9. Wednesday`s payload is a communications satellite built for LuxGovSat S.A., a public-private joint venture between the Luxembourg government and Luxembourg-based telecommunications company SES, in part to fulfil that nation`s growing defence obligations to NATO. The so-called GovSat-1 satellite will provide, among other things, greater cyber protection for Luxembourg`s European Union partners and NATO allies, including the United States, Luxembourg Defense Minister Etienne Schneider told a news conference on Tuesday. GovSat-1 also will serve civilian telecommunications security functions. Thirty-four minutes after liftoff, the satellite was successfully released into orbit 22,370 miles(36,000 km) above the equator, where it will circle the Earth for 15 years, according to SpaceX. A spokesman for Schneider said the $279 million satellite, which weighs about 4-1/2 tons, is part of a broader policy of doubling the country`s contributions to NATO. Citing new security threats, a senior NATO official told Reuters in March that the alliance planned to spend more than $3 billion on defence technology, a third of which would go toward satellite communications. Unlike many recent SpaceX launches, no attempt was made to retrieve the rocket`s reusable main-stage because the SES satellite had to be carried to a higher Earth orbit, leaving the booster without sufficient fuel to fly back to Earth for a return landing. The same Falcon 9 booster was used last year in a mission to launch a top-secret payload into space for the U.S. government.

SpaceX rocket launches Luxembourg satellite for NATO

The fate of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-launches-classified-military-payload-3208">Falcon 9 rocket powered by </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-launches-classified-military-payload-3208">EIon</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-launches-classified-military-payload-3208"> Musk&#39;s SpaceX</a> which blasted into space on Sunday is unknown after US officials refused to confirm if they had lost contact with the military satellite.

US media widely reported this week that the rocket was probably lost even as US spokesmen in the Pentagon declined to comment due to the &quot;classified&quot; nature of the mission.

&quot;I would have to refer you to SpaceX, who conducted the launch,&quot; Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said.

Another spokesman, &nbsp;Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie flatly refused to give any information, saying: &quot;I&#39;m done. We&#39;re not going to be able to give you any more information.&quot;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
The secret Zuma spacecraft&nbsp;was scheduled to take off in November but was delayed for nearly two-months both the US government or SpaceX revealed anything about the &quot;classified&quot; spacecraft from the beginning, but as speculation has mounted over its disappearance in space the US government officials have become even more tight-lipped about the top secret mission.

SpaceX has launched national security payloads in the past, including a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, and an X-37B space plane for the US Air Force. 
&nbsp;

US media widely reported this week that the rocket was probably lost even as US spokesmen in the Pentagon declined to comment

The fate of Falcon 9 rocket powered by EIon Musk's SpaceX which blasted into space on Sunday is unknown after US officials refused to confirm if they had lost contact with the military satellite. US media widely reported this week that the rocket was probably lost even as US spokesmen in the Pentagon declined to comment due to the "classified" nature of the mission. "I would have to refer you to SpaceX, who conducted the launch," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said. Another spokesman, Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie flatly refused to give any information, saying: "I'm done. We're not going to be able to give you any more information." The secret Zuma spacecraft was scheduled to take off in November but was delayed for nearly two-months both the US government or SpaceX revealed anything about the "classified" spacecraft from the beginning, but as speculation has mounted over its disappearance in space the US government officials have become even more tight-lipped about the top secret mission. SpaceX has launched national security payloads in the past, including a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, and an X-37B space plane for the US Air Force.

US government's SpaceX-powered Zuma spacecraft may be lost: Report

Elon Musk-led SpaceX today launched&nbsp;the secret Zuma spacecraft for the US government.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/elon-musk-beats-deadline-for-building-worlds-biggest-battery-25019">The launch which was scheduled to</a> take place in November finally happened after nearly a two-month delay on Sunday night.

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Falcon 9 first stage has landed at Landing Zone 1. <a href="https://t.co/679wN4F8kX">pic.twitter.com/679wN4F8kX</a>
&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/950172552642482176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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&quot;Team at the Cape completed additional propellant-loading tests today,&quot; SpaceX said.

Neither the US government or SpaceX has revealed anything about the &quot;classified&quot; spacecraft.

Zuma lifted off atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket from Florida&#39;s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.&nbsp;

An elated Musk tweeted:

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Falcon 9 first stage has landed at Landing Zone 1. <a href="https://t.co/679wN4F8kX">pic.twitter.com/679wN4F8kX</a>
&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/950172552642482176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0PWu3BRxn60" width="560"></iframe> 
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Neither the US government or SpaceX has revealed anything about the spacecraft.

Elon Musk-led SpaceX today launched the secret Zuma spacecraft for the US government. The launch which was scheduled to take place in November finally happened after nearly a two-month delay on Sunday night. Falcon 9 first stage has landed at Landing Zone 1. pic.twitter.com/679wN4F8kX — SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 8, 2018 × "Team at the Cape completed additional propellant-loading tests today," SpaceX said. Neither the US government or SpaceX has revealed anything about the "classified" spacecraft. Zuma lifted off atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. An elated Musk tweeted: Falcon 9 first stage has landed at Landing Zone 1. pic.twitter.com/679wN4F8kX — SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 8, 2018 ×

Watch: SpaceX launches 'secret' US spacecraft Zuma

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/un-imposes-new-sanctions-against-north-korea-trump-hails-decision-27503">UN imposes new sanctions against North Korea, Trump hails decision</a>

The UN Security Council today imposed new sanctions on North Korea seeking to ban refined petroleum product export after its ICBM missile test last month.

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/us-threats-against-pakistan-can-negatively-affect-relations-ispr-chief-major-general-ghafoor-27505">US threats against Pakistan can &#39;negatively&#39; affect relations: ISPR chief Major General Ghafoor</a>

Ghafoor&#39;s statement comes after US vice president Mike Pence on a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Friday said President Trump had put Pakistan on notice.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/man-held-over-christmas-attack-plot-in-san-francisco-fbi-27499">Man held over Christmas attack plot in San Francisco: FBI</a>

US Federal agents arrested a former US Marine on Friday for allegedly plotting a Christmas attack in San Francisco inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group.

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/watch-spacex-successfully-deploys-10-satellites-into-low-earth-orbit-27507">Watch: SpaceX successfully deploys 10 satellites into low-earth orbit</a>

EIon&nbsp;Musk-led SpaceX broke new ground in space with the launch of rocket Falcon 9 which successfully deployed 10 satellites into earth&#39;s orbit.

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/34-trains-late-15-cancelled-due-to-low-visibility-in-delhi-27506">34 trains late, 15 cancelled due to low visibility in Delhi</a>

According to reports, most trains running on Amritsar/Ludhiana to New Delhi route were running late or had to be rescheduled.

According to reports, most trains running on Amritsar/Ludhiana to New Delhi route were running late or had to be rescheduled.

UN imposes new sanctions against North Korea, Trump hails decision The UN Security Council today imposed new sanctions on North Korea seeking to ban refined petroleum product export after its ICBM missile test last month. US threats against Pakistan can 'negatively' affect relations: ISPR chief Major General Ghafoor Ghafoor's statement comes after US vice president Mike Pence on a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Friday said President Trump had put Pakistan on notice. Man held over Christmas attack plot in San Francisco: FBI US Federal agents arrested a former US Marine on Friday for allegedly plotting a Christmas attack in San Francisco inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group. Watch: SpaceX successfully deploys 10 satellites into low-earth orbit EIon Musk-led SpaceX broke new ground in space with the launch of rocket Falcon 9 which successfully deployed 10 satellites into earth's orbit. 34 trains late, 15 cancelled due to low visibility in Delhi According to reports, most trains running on Amritsar/Ludhiana to New Delhi route were running late or had to be rescheduled.

WION morning news brief, December 23, 2017

EIon Musk-led SpaceX broke new ground in space&nbsp;with the launch of rocket Falcon 9 which successfully deployed 10 satellites into&nbsp;earth&#39;s orbit.

SpaceX said it had successfully installed 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into&nbsp;low-earth orbit.&nbsp;

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Here&rsquo;s the video. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/spacex?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#spacex</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IridiumNEXT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IridiumNEXT</a> <a href="https://t.co/mnVKrPjCcB">pic.twitter.com/mnVKrPjCcB</a>
&mdash; Amanda (@alias_amanda) <a href="https://twitter.com/alias_amanda/status/944385482749706240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
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Successful deployment of 10 <a href="https://twitter.com/IridiumComm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IridiumComm</a> NEXT satellites to low-Earth orbit confirmed. <a href="https://t.co/CTtvPYNgMA">pic.twitter.com/CTtvPYNgMA</a>
&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/944397579369955328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The company added that Iridium had received &quot;healthy signals&quot; from all 10 satellites.

The Falcon 9 rocket which took off from Vandenberg Air Base in California on Friday will be pulling off the largest &quot;tech upgrades&quot; in history.

&quot;The process of replacing the satellites one-by-one in a constellation of this size and scale has never been completed before,&quot; SpaceX said in a statement.

An excited Musk followed the launch on Twitter, declaring &quot;launch underway&quot; as his company set a new record in space.

&nbsp;

SpaceX said Iridium had received "healthy signals" from all 10 satellites

EIon Musk-led SpaceX broke new ground in space with the launch of rocket Falcon 9 which successfully deployed 10 satellites into earth's orbit. SpaceX said it had successfully installed 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into low-earth orbit. Here’s the video. #spacex #IridiumNEXT pic.twitter.com/mnVKrPjCcB — Amanda (@alias_amanda) December 23, 2017 × Successful deployment of 10 @IridiumComm NEXT satellites to low-Earth orbit confirmed. pic.twitter.com/CTtvPYNgMA — SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 23, 2017 × The company added that Iridium had received "healthy signals" from all 10 satellites. The Falcon 9 rocket which took off from Vandenberg Air Base in California on Friday will be pulling off the largest "tech upgrades" in history. "The process of replacing the satellites one-by-one in a constellation of this size and scale has never been completed before," SpaceX said in a statement. An excited Musk followed the launch on Twitter, declaring "launch underway" as his company set a new record in space.

Watch: SpaceX successfully deploys 10 satellites into low-earth orbit

American aerospace manufacturer Space Exploration Technologies Corp., will launch its 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station, NASA this Friday. SpaceX has have attempted several attempts earlier this month.

According to NASA, SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will be carrying a Dragon spacecraft which will be attached to the space station for about a month. The spacecraft will carry roughly 4,800 pounds of cargo including science and research equipment along with crew supplies.

The mission is aimS at carrying out investigations vital to lower the risk to human life and critical hardware by orbital debris, NASA said.

The launch will take place from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

The launch will take place from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida

American aerospace manufacturer Space Exploration Technologies Corp., will launch its 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station, NASA this Friday. SpaceX has have attempted several attempts earlier this month. According to NASA, SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will be carrying a Dragon spacecraft which will be attached to the space station for about a month. The spacecraft will carry roughly 4,800 pounds of cargo including science and research equipment along with crew supplies. The mission is aimS at carrying out investigations vital to lower the risk to human life and critical hardware by orbital debris, NASA said. The launch will take place from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

SpaceX cargo mission to International Space Station to launch today

Amazon.com Inc&rsquo;s Chinese partner, Beijing Sinnet Technology Co., said it would purchase Amazon&rsquo;s Chinese web services business for up to 2 billion yuan ($301 million), ending the U.S. firms&rsquo;s cloud-computing business in the country.Sinnet, which began operating the Amazon services in August 2016, said in a filing late on Monday the pending purchase would help the unit &ldquo;comply with local laws and regulations and further improve service quality and security.&rdquo;

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday morning.

Chinese regulators are tightening rules on foreign data and cloud services, including new surveillance measures and increased scrutiny of cross-border data transfers.

In August Sinnet told customers it would begin shutting down VPNs and other services on its networks that allow users to circumvent China&rsquo;s Great Firewall, citing direct instructions from the government.

The changes are linked to new national cyber laws that came into effect in 2017, which make network providers liable for content deemed dangerous or offensive to &ldquo;socialist values&rdquo;.

In 2013 Amazon&rsquo;s web services business signed agreements with provincial governments in China, and has previously worked with some of China&rsquo;s largest tech firms including Xiaomi Inc, Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd and Kingsoft Corp Ltd.

Cloud services have become a crowded and competitive field in China in recent years, with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd&rsquo;s cloud unit opening over a dozen overseas data centers since 2016.

($1 = 6.6400 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Virgin Hyperloop One will push for pod-based super-fast transportation to improve economic competitiveness, reduce congestion and emissions

Amazon.com Inc’s Chinese partner, Beijing Sinnet Technology Co., said it would purchase Amazon’s Chinese web services business for up to 2 billion yuan ($301 million), ending the U.S. firms’s cloud-computing business in the country.Sinnet, which began operating the Amazon services in August 2016, said in a filing late on Monday the pending purchase would help the unit “comply with local laws and regulations and further improve service quality and security.” Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday morning. Chinese regulators are tightening rules on foreign data and cloud services, including new surveillance measures and increased scrutiny of cross-border data transfers. In August Sinnet told customers it would begin shutting down VPNs and other services on its networks that allow users to circumvent China’s Great Firewall, citing direct instructions from the government. The changes are linked to new national cyber laws that came into effect in 2017, which make network providers liable for content deemed dangerous or offensive to “socialist values”. In 2013 Amazon’s web services business signed agreements with provincial governments in China, and has previously worked with some of China’s largest tech firms including Xiaomi Inc, Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd and Kingsoft Corp Ltd. Cloud services have become a crowded and competitive field in China in recent years, with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s cloud unit opening over a dozen overseas data centers since 2016. ($1 = 6.6400 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Virgin Hyperloop one project in Maharashtra: Mumbai to Pune in 14 minutes

Futurist and inventor&nbsp;Elon&nbsp;Musk&nbsp;unveiled ambitious plans Friday to send cargo ships to Mars in five years and use rockets to carry people between Earth&#39;s major cities in under half-an-hour.

The founder of SpaceX said a planned interplanetary transport system, codenamed BFR (Big Fucking Rocket), would be downsized so it could carry out a range of tasks that would then pay for future Mars missions.

&quot;The most important thing&nbsp;is that I think we have figured out how to pay for (BFR),&quot;&nbsp;Musk&nbsp;told a packed auditorium at a global gathering of space experts in Adelaide.

&quot;Which is to have a smaller vehicle, it&#39;s still pretty big, but one that can&nbsp;do everything that&#39;s needed in the greater Earth orbit activity.&quot;

Musk&nbsp;said his firm had started building the system, with the construction of the first ship to start in six to nine months.

&quot;I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and launch in about five years,&quot; he added.

At least two cargo ships would land on the Red Planet in 2022, with the key mission of finding the best source of water -- currently mooted as a way to power rockets, he said.

The rockets would place power, mining and life-support infrastructure on Mars to support future missions, with four ships set to take people, equipment and supplies to the planet in 2024.

The trips would be funded by a range of activities, including launching satellites, servicing the space station and lunar missions, he said.

Musk&nbsp;added that the rockets should also cater to Earth inhabitants by reducing the travel between major cities to less than half-an-hour.

A trip from Bangkok to Dubai would take 27 minutes, and from Tokyo to Delhi in 30 minutes, according to his calculations.

&quot;Once you are out of the atmosphere, it would be as smooth as silk, no turbulence, nothing,&quot; he said.

&quot;There&#39;s no weather&nbsp;and you can get to most long-distance places in less than half-an-hour. If we are building this thing to go to the Moon and Mars, then why not go to other places on Earth as well.&quot;

The week-long annual International Astronautical Congress, which concluded Friday, has seen government space agencies and private firms outline their plans to send humans to the Moon and Mars in the next few decades.

This included an agreement between Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA to work on the first lunar space station as part of a programme called the Deep Space Gateway.

A trip from Bangkok to Dubai would take 27 minutes. The inter-city travels will help pay for the Mars mission

Futurist and inventor Elon Musk unveiled ambitious plans Friday to send cargo ships to Mars in five years and use rockets to carry people between Earth's major cities in under half-an-hour. The founder of SpaceX said a planned interplanetary transport system, codenamed BFR (Big Fucking Rocket), would be downsized so it could carry out a range of tasks that would then pay for future Mars missions. "The most important thing is that I think we have figured out how to pay for (BFR)," Musk told a packed auditorium at a global gathering of space experts in Adelaide. "Which is to have a smaller vehicle, it's still pretty big, but one that can do everything that's needed in the greater Earth orbit activity." Musk said his firm had started building the system, with the construction of the first ship to start in six to nine months. "I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and launch in about five years," he added. At least two cargo ships would land on the Red Planet in 2022, with the key mission of finding the best source of water -- currently mooted as a way to power rockets, he said. The rockets would place power, mining and life-support infrastructure on Mars to support future missions, with four ships set to take people, equipment and supplies to the planet in 2024. The trips would be funded by a range of activities, including launching satellites, servicing the space station and lunar missions, he said. Musk added that the rockets should also cater to Earth inhabitants by reducing the travel between major cities to less than half-an-hour. A trip from Bangkok to Dubai would take 27 minutes, and from Tokyo to Delhi in 30 minutes, according to his calculations. "Once you are out of the atmosphere, it would be as smooth as silk, no turbulence, nothing," he said. "There's no weather and you can get to most long-distance places in less than half-an-hour. If we are building this thing to go to the Moon and Mars, then why not go to other places on Earth as well." The week-long annual International Astronautical Congress, which concluded Friday, has seen government space agencies and private firms outline their plans to send humans to the Moon and Mars in the next few decades. This included an agreement between Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA to work on the first lunar space station as part of a programme called the Deep Space Gateway.

Elon Musk wants to land on Mars in 5 yrs, travel from Delhi to Tokyo in 30 mins

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