Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Why the spectrum gold rush may soon be over

      23 June 2025

      Tech stability key to getting South Africa off damaging financial grey list

      23 June 2025

      ‘System offline’ scourge to end, says Schreiber – but industry must pay

      23 June 2025

      Naspers shifts to an AI-first strategy – and it’s paying off

      23 June 2025

      Letter: South Africa risks missing AI wave while world surges ahead

      23 June 2025
    • World

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | South Africa’s Sociable wants to make social media social again

      23 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E3: Behind Takealot’s revenue surge

      23 June 2025

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » World » First SpaceX passengers must be ‘brave’, Musk says

    First SpaceX passengers must be ‘brave’, Musk says

    By Agency Staff20 July 2017
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Rendition of Falcon Heavy shortly after launch

    [dropcap]E[/dropcap]lon Musk tamped down expectations about SpaceX’s new rocket designed to carry private citizens into space, saying whoever chooses to be among the first passengers will need to be “brave”.

    The SpaceX Falcon Heavy, a rocket with two extra boosters attached and a total of 27 engines that must fire simultaneously, will have enormous stresses and has been difficult to test on the ground, Musk said on Wednesday in Washington.

    He jokingly urged attendees of a conference on the International Space Station to watch the first attempted launch.

    “It’s guaranteed to be exciting,” he said. When asked whether the risks would make potential customers pause before signing up for a flight, he said: “I want to make sure we set expectations accordingly.”

    There is a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy, a real good chance that that vehicle doesn’t make it to orbit. I’m saying full disclosure here, man

    SpaceX has an ambitious agenda for the cosmos in coming years. The company began taking deposits from private citizens for a trip around the moon on the Falcon Heavy rocket. And it is working with Nasa to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. But the company has only transported cargo so far, and Musk said shifting to carrying passengers is “a huge step up”.

    Getting certified to carry Nasa astronauts has been a challenge for SpaceX, as there is a much higher bar than transporting hardware for the agency, Musk said. He called Nasas oversight “really tough” but justified because of the potential risks to humans.

    “It’s the right motivation,” he said.

    Certification standards

    SpaceX and Nasa are now working through some “small technical bones of contention” for certification to carry passengers, he said. Meanwhile, the US Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates commercial space flight separately from Nasa, hasn’t yet set certification standards for carrying private citizens for hire.

    The company continues its attempts to re-use more of its rockets and launch equipment, a more efficient approach that has been the biggest innovation in space flight in recent years, Musk said.

    SpaceX has successfully landed its rocket boosters and used them again. It’s now “quite close” to being able to reuse the fairing that clamps over the rocket’s payload, a relatively lightweight aerodynamic cover, he said.

    Rendition of Falcon Heavy

    The fairing costs between $5m and $6m. “Imagine we have a pallet of cash worth $6m falling through the sky,” Musk said he has told his staff. “Would we try to catch it? I say we do.”

    He didn’t provide details about how the fairing would be captured.

    Musk’s talk on Wednesday was to an overwhelmingly friendly audience of scientists as eager as he is to explore space. Topics ranged from how his project to build tunnels to stem the Los Angeles region’s traffic congestion might help colonise Mars to the health risks of travelling beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

    It’s guaranteed to be exciting… I want to make sure we set expectations accordingly

    He downplayed the potential for human conflict on Mars, calling it “pretty open territory” where competing entities could find plenty of room without challenging each others’ claims. After praising Nasa and noting it stood to get increased federal funding, he drew applause.

    The billionaire entrepreneur said development of the Falcon Heavy had been much tougher than he imagined. By adding two additional boosters to each side of a rocket, it added to the vibrations, created new stresses to the main rocket and was difficult to test without an actual launch.

    “There is a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy, a real good chance that that vehicle doesn’t make it to orbit,” he said. “I’m saying full disclosure here, man.”

    Potential safety hazards

    Government reviews have echoed some of his concerns. The Government Accountability Office found earlier this year that SpaceX and competitor Boeing must contend with potential safety hazards that may postpone approvals for transporting astronauts until 2019. A US contract with Russia for transportation to the space station expires that year.

    The GAO’s findings follow a September report by Nasa’s Office of Inspector General, which warned of “multiple challenges that will likely delay the first routine flight carrying Nasa astronauts to the ISS until late 2018”. Agency funding challenges, delays in Nasa’s evaluation process and technical challenges with spacecraft designs have all contributed to the program falling behind schedule.

    There have been two major mishaps with its rockets since 2015, a sign of how difficult rocket science can be.

    On 28 June 2015, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket disintegrated shortly after launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Another Falcon 9 blew up on the ground in Florida.

    But SpaceX has also had numerous successes, making it one of the most formidable companies in the space market. It has pioneered reusable rockets, for example, which it has successfully landed in Cape Canaveral and on an ocean barge.  — Reported by Alan Levin, (c) 2017 Bloomberg LP



    Elon Musk Falcon Heavy Nasa Space X top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleSA cuts key rate for first time in five years
    Next Article Apple dispute hits Qualcomm where it hurts

    Related Posts

    Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

    19 June 2025

    Starlink to South Africa: ‘We are ready to invest’

    17 June 2025

    Up to Icasa whether Starlink gets a licence: Malatsi

    11 June 2025
    Company News

    IoT connectivity management in South Africa – expert insights

    23 June 2025

    Let’s reimagine Joburg using the power of tech, data and AI

    23 June 2025

    Netstar doubles down on global markets while backing SA growth

    23 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.