Technologies

Elon Musk confirms he’s worried SpaceX could go bankrupt

The world’s richest person is worried one of his companies could go bankrupt if it doesn’t make it to space early and often starting next year.

Elon Musk said Tuesday via Twitter that his spacecraft company, SpaceX, needs to produce a lot more of its next-generation Starship engines, and soon, to keep growing its Starlink broadband constellation and stay in business.

«If a severe global recession were to dry up capital availability / liquidity while SpaceX was losing billions on Starlink (and) Starship, then bankruptcy, while still unlikely, is not impossible,» he tweeted.

The statement came in response to a leaked email that Musk reportedly sent to employees over the long Thanksgiving holiday in the US asking for «all hands on deck.»

The email alluded to a «production crisis» within the company centered on the Raptor engines that power Starship. SpaceX is planning to fly a Starship prototype to space for the first time in 2022, and the vehicle is the centerpiece of the company’s future plans to send humans to the moon and Mars.

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But more important for the SpaceX business model is that Starship is key to continuing to launch version two Starlink satellites, which will provide a vital revenue stream for the company in the future.

«The consequences for SpaceX if we can not get enough reliable Raptors made is that we then can’t fly Starship, which means we then can’t fly Starlink Satellite V2. Satellite V1, by itself, is financially weak, while V2 is strong,» reads the email, which was first obtained by SpaceExplored.

SpaceX and Musk didn’t directly confirm the veracity of the leaked email to CNET, but when asked by a Twitter user on Tuesday morning «(how is) the Raptor thing going?» Musk responded briefly «It’s getting fixed.»

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In the email, Musk concludes by warning that SpaceX could face «genuine risk of bankruptcy if we cannot achieve a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year.»

Musk seems to be upping the ante here. Less than two weeks ago, he said during a livestream he was hoping for «up to a dozen» test flights of Starship in 2022 before launching «real payloads» in 2023.

If the company does end up on the brink of bankruptcy, it wouldn’t be the first time. Musk famously stared down financial ruin before SpaceX managed its first successful launch of a Falcon 1 rocket.

Raptor production isn’t even Starship’s most immediate hurdle. The vehicle’s first orbital test flight is still awaiting the conclusion of an environmental review and the official green light from the FAA, which isn’t expected before the end of the year.

Technologies

This Transformable Electric Truck Could Become the Cheapest EV in the US

Merging retro touches with a high-tech electric platform, the Slate Truck offers a customizable, budget-friendly alternative to traditional EVs.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #686

Hints and answers for Connections for April 27, #686.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle might make you hungry — especially if you spot the four words in the blue category. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Do the math.

Green group hint: Tresses.

Blue group hint: Munchies.

Purple group hint: Think Stockholm.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Calculator buttons.

Green group: Amounts of hair.

Blue group: Salty snack unit.

Purple group: Swedish ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is calculator buttons. The four answers are equals, minus, percent and times.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is amounts of hair. The four answers are lock, shock, thatch and tuft.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is salty snack unit. The four answers are Combo, Goldfish, Ruffle and Taki.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Swedish ____. The four answers are Chef, Fish, massage and meatball.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #420

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 420 for April 27.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Sleep used to be so simple, but now it can be complex, as we try to add in extra things to help us get that good night’s rest. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle highlights sleep assistance, and a few of the words are tricky. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Sleep tight

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Zzzzz…

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BEDS, MINE, TAKE, TAKES, TAKER, STAKE, LATS, EARL, PLUG, PLUGS, ROUT, MIKE, DATE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: