NASA to buy 5 more astronaut missions from SpaceX

NASA plans to buy five more SpaceX crewed flights to the International Space Station. The agency announced a “sole source modification” to its contract with SpaceX, which operates the only American system currently carrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The expected value of the modified contract was not disclosed in an agency blog post (opens in new tab) Wednesday (June 1). The five-flight purchase adds on to a $3.5 billion contract awarded to SpaceX in February for three additional astronaut missions with its Falcon 9 rocket and…

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Elon Musk tells SpaceX, Tesla workers they must be in office at least 40 hours a week: report

It appears that fully remote work at SpaceX and Tesla is over. Elon Musk, the CEO of both companies, sent memos to executives at SpaceX and Tesla dictating that all employees must show up to the office for a minimum of 40 hours per week, according to a New York Times report (opens in new tab) published on Wednesday (June 1). “The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence,” Musk said in the memo to SpaceX executives, according to The New York Times. “That is why…

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Russia will launch a cargo mission to the space station early Friday morning. Watch it live

Russia will launch a robotic cargo mission to the International Space Station early Friday morning (June 3), and you can watch the action live. The uncrewed Progress 81 freighter is scheduled to lift off atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Friday at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT). Watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency; coverage will begin at 5:15 a.m. EDT (0915 GMT). Progress 81 is carrying about three tons of food, propellant and equipment up to the…

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