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A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

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Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They are not going to just overhaul everything overnight, they are going to upgrade the system based on ATC feedback. Let's assume that the person isn't so full of it that the sclera of their eyes aren't dark brown. What guarantees that Musk's team is the best to do this on-time, on-budget, and on-spec?

>What guarantees that Musk's team is the best to do this on-time, on-budget, and on-spec? SpaceX has been a government contractor for years, consistently delivering innovative solutions, reducing costs, and achieving milestones that traditional aerospace companies struggled with. Biden alone assigned 4 national security contract to Space X during his term, a notable one being NSSL.

> SpaceX has been a government contractor for years, consistently delivering innovative solutions, reducing costs, and achieving milestones that traditional aerospace companies struggled with.

Cool. What about that says they'll have expertise in clearing up issues with ATC?

Was a call for proposals even made? Were requirements even defined?

Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Removing the process is the improvement. This is what we voted for. Less processes not more and actual results. Ask ChatGPT to compare and contrast Kamala Harris's effectiveness as "broadband Tzar" as compared to SpaceX Starlink.

Got it, so frame the question using language hinting i'm looking for an anti Harris response.

What do you think is the best way for a voter to decide if Harris would be a good steward of tax payer money?

Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#113
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump hands over government services to his biggest donor with zero accountability, transparency, and oversight. That is not corruption? What an Orwellian world. SpaceX bid and won projects. Did they win via corruption as well? Reread everything and cross out through names and see if you feel the sams.

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A bit laughable to accuse someone of being misinformed and them point them at a bullshit machine for answers.

You might want to consider reading/learning from some primary sources instead of basing your entire perception of reality on hallucinations from chatbots and Fox News.

Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#114
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump won because he has lied and manipulated a population of idiots. They have managed to create a situation where they can say whatever they want and still get support. That much is clear to everyone outside of the US. And we don't want any more of your culture over here thank you very much. No one is debating whether or not increasing efficiency or reducing government is a good or bad thing. It is the way it's bei…

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Not sure what being Jewish has to do with anything. Hasn't the president been talking about ethnic cleansing the Palestinians from Gaza? Just because he is attacking different groups than the Nazis did doesn't mean it is somehow better.

Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#115

What specific expertise does SpaceX have in the air traffic control realm? What was the bidding process like? Do other regions / nations have more advanced ATC than we do, and what can we learn from them? Is there a problem statement beyond "it has some old bits"? What are the specific goals? Just feels like corruption, tbh.

Why is everyone assuming SpaceX is getting paid for this by the government? The article doesn't even say that SpaceX is getting paid by the govt for it, they just put it in the headline and use weasel words in the story to make people come up with assumptions that may not be true. The govt can be paying those folks directly or Musk himself can be paying them like he did for some DOGE team members.

Because getting more money and power are what Elon is after and embedding his companies in the government is an effective way to do that.

Tesla stock roughly doubled following the election! That's obviously not because Trump is going to be a champion for electric vehicles and green energy, he couldn't be more hostile to them. Investors know that Elon is going to suck insane amounts of money out of the government with his new level of access and most of that will flow through his companies.

Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What guarantees that Musk's team is the best to do this on-time, on-budget, and on-spec? SpaceX has been a government contractor for years, consistently delivering innovative solutions, reducing costs, and achieving milestones that traditional aerospace companies struggled with. Biden alone assigned 4 national security contract to Space X during his term, a notable one being NSSL.

> SpaceX has been a government contractor for years, consistently delivering innovative solutions, reducing costs, and achieving milestones that traditional aerospace companies struggled with. Cool. What about that says they'll have expertise in clearing up issues with ATC? Was a call for proposals even made? Were requirements even defined?

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Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#117
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is everyone assuming SpaceX is getting paid for this by the government? The article doesn't even say that SpaceX is getting paid by the govt for it, they just put it in the headline and use weasel words in the story to make people come up with assumptions that may not be true. The govt can be paying those folks directly or Musk himself can be paying them like he did for some DOGE team members.

Because getting more money and power are what Elon is after and embedding his companies in the government is an effective way to do that. Tesla stock roughly doubled following the election! That's obviously not because Trump is going to be a champion for electric vehicles and green energy, he couldn't be more hostile to them. Investors know that Elon is going to suck insane amounts of money out of the government with…

Like how, for example? Serious question.

If SpaceX has the best, most economical, and safest route to space, why would Nasa and DoD not use them? Who else is there? Blue Origin's not there yet; others are in the works but not there yet. SpaceX is proven; it does a good job and has brought manned space flight back to the U.S. Has nothing to do with whether Musk & his team are close to Trump or not.

More to the point, the DoGE audits are projected to save the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars, which should significantly reduce the deficit which is currently projected at two trillion dollars.

Even if we assume the worst, most absurd and political stance that Musk is in it for the money and influence, saving $500 billion or more is still worth it. And, in reality, Musk's political activity is costing Tesla a lot of sales; Tesla's sales numbers are in decline, actually.

Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#118
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But isn't SpaceX money coming mostly from the government anyway? So still your pockets getting emptied, only over two extra hoops which each take their share as well. All this to bring the magic solution called software engineering because we all know how software consultants always save the business.

No it isn't. Most of their revenue comes from starlink and rocket launch services that they sell in open markets. Significant improvement in cost and capabilities over competition that enabled SpaceX to capture so much of the market has massively driven prices down and certainly saved taxpayers a lot of money for the services. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_launch_market_competitio... SpaceX does get government…

Not to mention the national security advantage of being able to service the ISS and to launch humans into space without help from adversarial regimes.

Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do other regions / nations have more advanced ATC According to Trump, yes. This is what he said: > When I land in my plane, privately, I use a system from another country because...I won't tell you what country... because the captain says this system is so bad, it's so obsolete, that we can't have that. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/02/06...

I think the intro explaining that this is not true and Trump was most likely misunderstanding his pilot's comments about onboard electronics is the key bit of that article... Fits in with the first term in which Trump baffled airline executives by assuring them that he'd help solve the problem with the airports giving them the wrong equipment[1], also based on apparently failing to understand an anecdote from his pri…

> someone whose first foray into improving the FAA was to arbitrarily fire hundreds of FAA staff

400 non-ATC, non-safety related probationary new hires, out of 45,000.

Re: A SpaceX team is being brought in to overhaul FAA's air traffic control system

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> SpaceX has been a government contractor for years, consistently delivering innovative solutions, reducing costs, and achieving milestones that traditional aerospace companies struggled with. Cool. What about that says they'll have expertise in clearing up issues with ATC? Was a call for proposals even made? Were requirements even defined?

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> They are just visiting the ATCSCC for a tour nothing more. Musk said they are available to help.

"Boeing takes a tour of Air Force base, nothing more. Ortberg said they are available to help."

Doesn't sound good, does it? Sounds like a contractor walking around looking for a way to get taxpayer funds, instead of meeting an actual, stated need.

And since Congress has decided it doesn't need to do its job, that contractor very well might get taxpayer funds. Lots of them.

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