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For a company that prides itself on pushing the boundaries in space exploration , SpaceX just hit another major roadblock—literally. The highly anticipated test flight of its Starship mega rocket ended in disaster (again) after controllers lost contact with the upper-stage vehicle just minutes into the launch. This marks Starship’s second consecutive failure, raising serious questions: What’s causing these explosions? Has this happened before? And what is SpaceX doing to fix it? Let’s break it all down. Why Did This Happen? According to an NBC News report, the launch kicked off with promise. Near Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday, March 6, at 6:30 p.m. ET, Starship blasted off from SpaceX’s Starbase for its eighth test, soaring toward the skies with the power and spectacle you’d expect from the world’s most advanced rocket. But then—like déjà vu—disaster struck just over eight minutes in. Live video showed the upper-stage vehicle spinning uncontrollably, and within seconds,...
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, while much of the country slept, President Donald Trump made yet another grand declaration. It was reminiscent of his past bold claims—Mexico paying for the wall, immediate healthcare overhauls, the return of American manufacturing—statements that electrified his base but often failed to materialize in the real world. This time, the promise was more personal. “I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” Trump announced, as reported by CNBC. And yet, as the day unfolded, there were no White House photo ops, no congratulatory X posts from Musk, and no sign of a freshly delivered Tesla in the presidential motorcade. What initially seemed like an act of economic defiance against Tesla’s plunging stock price quickly revealed itself as something else entirely—another carefully staged performance in the political theater that now defines the Trump-Musk alliance....
If you’ve been keeping up with Donald Trump’s moves since the end of the 2024 election , you likely already know that the newly inaugurated president has taken numerous meetings with CEOs and industry leaders in the world of tech, including those from OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle. According to the latest White House press briefing, Trump has united the forces of the aforementioned corporations under the umbrella of “Stargate,” in an effort to create a massive push for artificial intelligence infrastructure. For now, there are still plenty of questions regarding Stargate, and even a few critiques from high-ranking Trump cabinet picks arguing that the respective parties simply don’t have the funds to pull it off. Still, the New York Stock Exchange seems to be brimming with the news, as shown by the latest returns of each of the parties involved. The Stargate venture is poised to cost more than $500 billion when it’s all said and done, so many people in the world of tech and government...
South African billionaire Elon Musk is known for his desire to swallow up companies and rebrand them with his own trendy vision. The Tesla CEO previously used his familial wealth to purchase stakes in such businesses as PayPal, SpaceX and of course, X (formerly Twitter). Now, according to official statements made by the Trump administration cabinet pick, the emerald mine profiteer is considering buying the rights to Vine, a defunct app which predates TikTok . This would be a major development in the world of social media, since the latter is still potentially facing a long-term ban within the United States, unless the app’s parent company ByteDance can agree to divest to American financial interests. When prompted by a fellow X user about bringing Vine back into the fray to fill in the power vacuum left by TikTok, Musk simply responded, “We’re looking into it.” So, now seems like as good a time as any to examine what Vine is (or was), how Elon could bring it back to compete with...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Americans aren’t the only ones prepping for another tedious four years under President-elect Donald Trump. Since the results of the 2024 election projected Donald Trump as the winner, tech leaders from companies like Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, and others have shelled out seven-figure investments to Trump’s inaugural fund. According to CBS News, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has donated $1 million and plans to stream the inauguration on Prime. Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, will donate $1 million, along with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who delivered an optimistic statement about the President-elect’s election win. “President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI, and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead,” Altman said in a statement, per The Associated Press. Elon Musk, CEO of X, Tesla, and SpaceX, and general pop culture menace has been a lurking presence...
Climbing his way into first place of today’s billionaires , South African-born Elon Musk is making headlines for his political affiliations as much as his business decisions. Two of his most well-known are Musk’s purchase of Twitter (X) in 2022 and founding of artificial intelligence startup xAI in 2023. Since the November presidential election, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has become even richer, by 77% , than he was last year. Selling shares of Space X garnered the surpassing of his own record-setting wealth amount now making him worth more than Costco . Wondering how much that is exactly? Here’s what we know about Elon Musk’s net worth. Who Is Elon Musk? Allison Robbert-Pool / Getty Images Elon Musk received bachelor’s degrees in physics and economics from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In 1995, he moved to California to pursue a master’s degree in physics from Stanford University. He would leave, after only two days in the program, as he was certain that the...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Decisive — that’s the word that best captures what the world witnessed on Election Day 2024. Not only did Donald Trump secure a win to become president-elect but the Republicans also took control of the Senate. With this level of unified power, the Trump administration is poised to pursue its agenda unimpeded. Previously, I discussed the contrasting relationships that Vice President Kamala Harris and President-Elect Trump have with the tech industry. Now, with Trump positioned to shape federal policy toward tech, it’s time to explore what this shift means for those working in or aspiring to join the industry. I’ll dive into the new opportunities Trump’s administration may create, those it could curtail, and how these changes impact you. “Make America Great Again” has been the rallying cry for the Trump campaign and administration since he stepped on the scene. With him back in the Oval Office, one...
The platform formerly known as Twitter has gone through some major changes since Elon Musk’s 2022 takeover. The billionaire renamed the company “X” and eradicated the blue checkmark system used to verify celebrities and public figures; now, anyone can be verified for just $8/month, causing some serious chaos in the early days as parody accounts posed as actual celebrities. For the most part, those who still use Twitter/X have become accustomed to the new features and moved on from mourning what Musk has taken from them. These days, the father of 11 owns 74% of the company , although Forbes estimates his stake “is now worth nearly 70% less than he paid for it” two years ago. This clearly indicates Musk is making less money, but what does this mean for Twitter’s net worth? New Reports Reveal Twitter’s Net Worth Is Down By Billions (Julian Christ/Unsplash) In October 2022 (after trying to back out of the deal), Musk paid $44B for X, then-known as Twitter. A company named Fidelity...
Representation in space exploration is crucial, and Sian Proctor stands among the luminaries. A woman on a mission, Proctor aspired to have an impact on society. The geoscientist had been “chasing space” throughout her lifetime, Space.com mentions. Born the same year Neil Armstrong made history with his first steps on the moon during NASA’s Apollo 11 mission, and raised with a father working at the NASA tracking station on Guam, Proctor would go on to make her own significant contributions. Historical Firsts As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Proctor became the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft. This was accomplished after she earned a Ph.D. along with a pilot’s license and SCUBA certification. She also completed a four-month mission in a building located near a Hawaiian volcano for an experiment imitating the conditions and stresses on a habitat like Mars in 2013. Ultimately, Proctor’s expertise, creativity, and dedication to her JEDI space initiative — a just, equitable,...
Aisha Bowe is an inspiration for Black women who aspire to work in the space industry. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Bowe is a former rocket scientist for NASA and received the National Society of Black Engineers award for Outstanding Technical Contribution. However, before earning accolades, the aerospace engineer struggled to find her footing in her academic journey. In an interview with the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast, Bowe recalled not doing well during her time at community college. “I bombed the first semester,” Bowe told hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings. “I think I’m going to be a business student and study economics.” Ultimately, struggling in community college led her to pursue a dream that she thought was once unachievable — becoming a rocket scientist. So, she transitioned into aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, although people around her didn’t understand why she was pursuing the career. “They literally thought that I had lost it,” she said....
Elon Musk, entrepreneur and CEO of companies like Tesla and SpaceX , is not only known for his innovations but also for his staggering wealth. In 2022, Musk made headlines when he invested a whopping $44 billion in X, formally known as Twitter. This move sparked discussions about the investment’s value and impact on the platform. Despite expressing buyer’s remorse and even joking about it on social media , Musk’s financial decisions continue to fascinate the public’s attention. How Much Money Does Elon Musk Make Per Second? Elon Musk earns approximately $656 per second, according to CoinCodex . This estimation is from Musk’s reported estimated net worth of $205.2 billion as of January 2024 and the span of over a decade during which he accumulated his wealth. Musk’s earnings per second are over $43,000 per minute, nearly equivalent to the annual full-time wage in the US of $53,490. Musk earns a year’s salary in just one minute, and it takes him only a week to reach a nine-figure...
In a significant shift, the social media platform Twitter has officially rebranded. Twitter is now “X” as the company seeks to encompass a broader range of services and better reflect its evolving identity. Since Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform in 2022, the social media app has seen significant changes as it appears to re-engage with users who have since moved on to TikTok. “Twitter was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app,” said Musk in a “tweet.” He adds, “The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth – like birds tweeting – but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video. In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world.” What Does Musk Have In Mind For Twitter? Much like the super app WeChat , Musk’s rebranding of Twitter to X aims to do everything a consumer can think of. From...
Jaden Hunter had a stellar finish, graduating with a 4.5 GPA from Crenshaw Arts Tech Charter High. Now, Hunter will be on his way to study mechanical engineering at Berkeley. He plans to work for NASA or SpaceX when he completes his higher education. “I felt good because my hard work paid off. All the long sleepless nights I took in, stuff like that, it finally paid off,” Hunter told ABC7.
The world’s richest man is back at it again with another lawsuit. Elon Musk has been sued for $258 billion for his alleged involvement in defrauding investors during a Dogecoin pyramid scheme. Fortune reports that the tech mogul has been sued by American citizen Keith Johnson “who was defrauded out of money by defendants’ Dogecoin Crypto Pyramid Scheme.” The defendants include Musk and his Tesla company as well as his SpaceX corporation. Johnson will represent not only himself but a group of investors who suffered similar losses due to Dogecoin trading that stems back to 2019.
The time has come, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins is now the first Black woman to make the trek to the International Space Station for an extended mission. On Wednesday, her journey began when she, alongside fellow astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Samantha Cristoforetti hopped on the SpaceX Dragon to begin their mission to the ISS, NPR reports. The team traveled over 15 hours from the Kennedy Space Center located in Dallas, TX, and will remain on the trip over the course of six months. While she is not the first Black woman to go to space, the trip remains historic as it’s a huge leap into the future of space as it pertains to Black women. “We have reached this milestone, this point in time, and the reason we’re able to arrive at this time is because of the legacy of those who have come before to allow for this moment,” said Watkins when the news was announced and reported by AfroTech in November 2021. “Also, recognizing this is a step in the direction of a very exciting...