SpaceX, the exploration company founded by tech mogul Elon Musk, launched the Falcon Heavy Feb. 6 to become the most powerful rocket launch since NASA’s Apollo Missions ended in 1973.
The Falcon Heavy, which can generate more than five million pounds of thrust and can carry 141,000 pounds of cargo into low Earth orbit, was also carrying an extra special piece of cargo – Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster along with a mannequin named “Starman” in a SpaceX space suit
“It’s kind of silly and fun, but silly and fun things are important,” Musk told the New York Times.
This has become a trend with many of Musk’s business ventures, by promoting them with incredible publicity stunts he is able to show the public the innovative and futuristic industries he is pionering.
Musk’s other ventures include Tesla Motors and SolarCity, both trying to promote reusable energy through electric sports cars that can drive themselves and solar panels that look like roofing tiles.
Musk other ventures include The Boring Company, with the goal of digging tunnels under majors cities such as Los Angeles to alleviate their traffic problems by placing cars on a high speed track that travels at 125-150 mph.
One of the ways to promote The Boring Company was by selling flamethrowers for $500 already selling out of their 20,000 units.
After California’s state assemblyman Miguel Santiago created legislation to ban the flamethrower over safety concerns, Musk has changed the name of the flamethrower to “Not a Flamethrower.”
The Boring Company tunnels may also be used to build Musk’s other venture, Hyperloop, which can cut down travel times by traveling in a pod in a tube that reduces friction and wind resistance, moving the pod to speeds approaching Mach 1.
Musk is creating industries and infrastructure that will change our energy consumption and usage and change how we travel on Earth and in space.
And the tech mogul’s unorthodox promotion of these business will bring the necessary public attention to the future he is building.
by Julian Kushnick
CougarBuzz 