{"id":17481,"date":"2021-09-28T23:19:20","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T15:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/elon-musk-chats-about-starship-and-space-telescopes-and-jeff-bezos-rocket-envy\/"},"modified":"2021-09-28T23:19:20","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T15:19:20","slug":"elon-musk-chats-about-starship-and-space-telescopes-and-jeff-bezos-rocket-envy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/elon-musk-chats-about-starship-and-space-telescopes-and-jeff-bezos-rocket-envy\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk chats about Starship and space telescopes \u2026 and Jeff Bezos\u2019 rocket envy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Elon
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk chats with journalist Kara Swisher at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Asa Mathat for Vox Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the latest chapter of a long-running space spat, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took aim at his billionaire rival Jeff Bezos today with a barrage of double entendres that were delivered from the stage at this week\u2019s Code Conference.<\/p>\n

The jests he shared with journalist Kara Swisher, host of the Beverly Hills event, focused on the phallic shape of the New Shepard suborbital rocket ship built by Blue Origin, Bezos\u2019 space venture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be a different shape, potentially,\u201d Musk noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould you explain from a technological point of view why it\u2019s that shape?\u201d Swisher asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are only doing suborbital, then your rocket can be shorter, yes,\u201d Musk joked.<\/p>\n

More seriously, Musk said Bezos and Blue Origin should spend less time contesting NASA\u2019s $2.9 billion award to SpaceX for a Starship lunar lander and more time getting the company\u2019s New Glenn rocket to orbit. New Glenn\u2019s first launch is currently scheduled for late 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot sue your way to the moon, no matter how good your lawyers are,\u201d he said. When Swisher asked whether Musk ever talked with Bezos about the dispute, he said, \u201cNot verbally \u2026 just subtweets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to Musk\u2019s comments, an Amazon spokesperson passed along a list detailing challenges that SpaceX has made to decisions on topics ranging from Air Force awards for launch services to the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s satellite policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpaceX has a long track record of suing the U.S. government on procurement matters and protesting various governmental decisions,\u201d the spokesperson said in an email. \u201cIt is difficult to reconcile that historical record with their recent position on others filing similar actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/voxmedia\/status\/1443016081547816962<\/p>\n

A decision on Blue Origin\u2019s lunar lander lawsuit is expected in federal court by early November.<\/p>\n

NASA documents obtained by The Verge through a Freedom of Intormation Act request lay out some aspects of the space agency\u2019s defense of its decision to award funding to SpaceX alone and not to other would-be providers, such as Blue Origin. The documents note that NASA was working with a budget constrained by Congress and had no obligation to negotiate with Blue Origin\u2019s team over its $5.9 billion bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlue Origin made a bet and it lost,\u201d The Verge quotes the documents as saying.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s award to SpaceX has been suspended due to the legal wrangling, but SpaceX is moving ahead with its overall Starship development and testing effort.<\/p>\n

Despite the rivalry, Musk said it\u2019s a good thing for Bezos and other billionaires \u2014 including Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and Musk himself \u2014 to be spending money on opening up the space frontier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be on the top of your \u2018thank you\u2019 list, but I\u2019m just saying that when there\u2019s new technology, it is necessarily expensive until you can refine the design and you can scale things up, and then you can make it more affordable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s hourlong chat at this week\u2019s conference touched upon some of his favorite subjects. Here\u2019s a sampling:<\/p>\n