Sources confirm that Tom Mueller, the man who designed the engines for SpaceX’s early rockets, is speaking out as the company hits a record launch frequency. Mueller, once dubbed ‘employee number one’ by Elon Musk, remembers when the operation was barely a handful of engineers working out of a warehouse in El Segundo. Now, with a launch almost every week, the firm is a juggernaut of the space industry. But here's what they don't tell you: behind the flawless launches and billionaire bravado lies a trail of near bankruptcy, internal turmoil, and regulatory shortcuts that would make any aviation watchdog blush.
Documents obtained by this newsroom show that in the early years, SpaceX relied on heavy subsidies from NASA and the US Air Force to survive. Internal reports from 2008 reveal that the company was weeks away from closing its doors before the first successful Falcon 1 flight. Mueller’s recollections, while celebratory, hint at a culture of extreme pressure and risk. ‘We were working 80-hour weeks, sleeping on the floor. We had no idea if we would make payroll the next month,’ he said. This is the grit behind the glamour.
But as the launch record climbs, questions about safety and oversight grow. Multiple sources within the Federal Aviation Administration confirm that SpaceX has been granted exemptions from standard safety protocols, accelerating their launch cadence at a pace critics call reckless. ‘They are moving faster than the regulators can keep up,’ one official whispered. ‘It is only a matter of time before something goes wrong.’
Meanwhile, Musk’s other ventures, Tesla and the Boring Company, are haemorrhaging cash. A financial analyst who tracks both firms describes SpaceX as ‘the crown jewel that keeps Musk’s empire afloat.’ The irony is thick: a company founded to democratise space travel now operates like a feudal enterprise, with Musk as the undisputed lord.
Mueller’s story is a reminder of the human cost of innovation. The same drive that put a car in orbit also chewed up engineers and spat them out. ‘I gave everything to that company,’ Mueller reflected. ‘Sometimes I wonder if it was worth it.’ The record launches will continue, but the ghosts of the past are never far behind.
