Elon Musk Said SpaceX Competitors Only 'Take Up Less Than We Do, And They Take Nothing Down, And They Get Paid Twice As Much' — 10 Years Later, Its Rival In Space Boeing Has Frozen Hiring And Is Weighing Furloughs

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is riding high on the success of the first-ever private spacewalk. This comes at a time when Boeing Co. BA has frozen hiring and is weighing furloughs as a strike by more than 30,000 workers has entered its fourth day.

What Happened: Boeing has announced it will halt issuing purchase orders for its 737, 767, and 777 programs an ongoing strike, supported by 96% of its workers’ union.

"This strike jeopardizes our recovery in a significant way and we must take necessary actions to preserve cash and safeguard our shared future," Boeing CFO Brian West told employees in a letter on Monday, reported Reuters.

Beyond the concerns with its aerospace division, Boeing has also been plagued with issues on the aerospace side, with the most recent incident being the Starliner.

Two NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams, and Butch Wilmore, have been stranded on the International Space Station, or the ISS, due to safety concerns with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. This is after the spacecraft was impacted by several delays – the stranded astronauts' incident just closed the loop on a program that was marred by issues from the onset.

In a twist of irony, Musk's SpaceX will be the one to rescue Williams and Wilmore – the two will hop on the Dragon spacecraft and join members of the Crew-9 mission to chart their journey back to Earth.

Musk's Digs At Rivals: Musk, on the other hand, has been vocal in calling out his rivals. He also thinks SpaceX would have received more media attention than Boeing has if his space company's launch vehicle had an issue.

In fact, Musk has been vocal in his criticism of SpaceX rivals for a decade now – in a speech during a 2014 event organized by US Export-Import Bank, Musk took a dig at rivals for being less efficient while still being paid twice as much as his space company.

"Our Dragon spacecraft is the only spacecraft capable of taking any significant cargo down from the Space Station," he said.

"They only take stuff up, they take up less than we do, and they take nothing down, and they get paid twice as much per mission as we do."

For context, Musk's SpaceX bagged a $2.6 billion contract for Crew Dragon, while Boeing won a $4.2 billion contract for the Starliner. The Dragon has already been in operation since 2020, having taken 10 trips, while this was the first trip for the Boeing Starliner.

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Read Next:

• Boeing's Former CEO Dennis Muilenburg Said In 2017 His Company Will Beat Elon Musk To Mars. 7 Years Later, It Has Been Forced To Abandon NASA Astronauts At ISS, Who Will Now Be Rescued By SpaceX

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