image : SpaceX

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has confirmed it’s laying off about 10% of its staff citing “extraordinarily difficult challenges ahead.” “To continue delivering for our customers and to succeed in developing interplanetary spacecraft and a global space-based Internet, SpaceX must become a leaner company. Either of these developments, even when attempted separately, have bankrupted other organizations” A company spokesman said in a statement.

The company is offering at least eight weeks of pay and other benefits to persons being laid off and will remain with about 6,000 employees after the layoffs running company-wide is completed. It’ll also provide assistance with job searches, resume help and career coaching for those laid off according to an e-mail sent by SpaceX president Gwyne Shotwell to employees.

A Falcon 9 rocket in the hangar image : SpaceX

While the reasons for these lay-offs are unclear, SpaceX which raised $273 million in funding out of a targeted $500 million earlier this month according to an SEC filing has ambitious and expensive plans which include conducting a “hopper test” of its Mars spaceship prototype in soon time and development of its Starlink satellite program to compete with OneWeb and Canada’s Telesat to be the pioneer of a new satellite-based internet service.

Development on these programs could cost billions which may account for these lay-offs being made. “This was a very difficult but necessary decision,” Shotwell’s e-mail said. SpaceX won approval from U.S. regulators to deploy 7,518 satellites for its Starlink program last November and is also targeting a critical test of Demo-1, an uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station in preparation for real flights with American astronauts “no earlier than February”.

The company is valued at $31 billion according to Equidate from its most recent investment.

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