“We can confirm that we did lose the ship.”
Transcript:
Conway Gittens: Wall Street is trading higher on Friday, putting stocks on track for their best week since the November elections. Economic data is doing little to tamper the enthusiasm. Housing construction ended 2024 at its fastest pace since the early part of that year. Home builders, however, are keeping their eyes on mortgage rates, which recently topped 7 percent for the first time since May.
Shifting now to other top business news, the number seven isn’t so lucky for Elon Musk’s SpaceX. A 7th test flight for its Starship rocket ended with an explosion on the way into orbit.
The company confirmed on X that pieces of Starship fell back to earth and “into the Atlantic Ocean within the predefined hazard areas.” The falling debris prompted the FAA to issue an aircraft warning over the Caribbean, causing several airlines to divert flights.
SpaceX did manage to retain the rocket’s booster, which landed safely back to earth. This reusable, so-called Super Heavy, booster is key to keeping costs down as Musk builds out his space business. SpaceX already has a lucrative partnership with NASA and is looking to maintain its dominance in the space industry.
Musk, however, isn’t the only billionaire with space ambitions. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin had a successful test flight about 24 hours before the SpaceX explosion. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket made its debut voyage into space after previous attempts had to be scratched. Bezos is also testing the viability of reusable rockets – as he looks to build a broadband satellite network in space for his other company – Amazon.
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