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Elon Musk’s plans refer to an idea conceived in the 1960s. What is the Kardashev scale? | CNN

Elon Musk’s plans for the future of SpaceX, and humanity, are rooted in an idea conceived in the 1960s when astronomers began to pick up mysterious, unknown radio sources in the cosmos. Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev was a pioneer in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence at the time, and some of the signals fascinated him. Intrigued by the idea that a transmission from potential alien civilizations could possibly be detected from Earth, he proposed a scale to classify such civilizations based on the energy they could produce — and then devote to interstellar communications. His concept is now known as the Kardashev scale. Musk has referenced the scale often, most recently in video shared on X, his social platform, ahead of SpaceX’s blockbuster initial public offering in June and in a signed statement on the company’s website, which summarizes a request filed this year with the US Federal Communications Commission. In the request, SpaceX asks for permission to send up to 1 million new satellites into orbit, with the goal of creating data centers in space. Musk said that this new constellation of satellites would represent “a first step towards becoming a Kardas

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Jul 17, 2026
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Jul 17, 2026·GizmodoT2 · Outlet report
SpaceX Has Lost $1 Trillion in Value Since Its Post-IPO Peak

Elon Musk was riding high after the SpaceX IPO catapulted him to trillionaire status. But his net worth has dipped considerably in recent weeks, even if he won’t be resorting to digging through the couch cushions for rent money. Musk’s net…

Read original at Gizmodo →
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Jul 17, 2026·GizmodoT2 · Outlet reportLATEST
SpaceX Has Lost $1 Trillion in Value Since Its Post-IPO Peak

Elon Musk was riding high after the SpaceX IPO catapulted him to trillionaire status. But his net worth has dipped considerably in recent weeks, even if he won’t be resorting to digging through the couch cushions for…

Read original at Gizmodo →
Jul 16, 2026·The VergeT2 · Outlet report
SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13 launch attempt fizzled out.

SpaceX’s massive IPO: all the latest news The thirteenth, and first post-IPO, flight test of SpaceX’s massive Starship vehicle was supposed to occur Thursday night, but when the countdown hit zero just before 7PM ET,…

Read original at The Verge →
Jul 16, 2026·MashableT2 · Outlet reportKEY MOMENT
SpaceX's 13th Starship flight: How to watch the test live

After a bruising attempt in May, SpaceX will push new engine fixes, a revised flip maneuver, and fresh heat-shield experiments on its 13th test flight of Starship. This time, engineers want the rocket booster to…

Read original at Mashable →
Jul 15, 2026·TechCrunchT2 · Outlet report
SpaceX falls to $135 IPO price ahead of Starship launch | TechCrunch

Last day to exhibit your breakthrough to 10,000+ tech leaders at Disrupt is on Oct 2. Book Exhibit Table Now. Disrupt doors open Oct. 13. Get your pass and bring someone with you at 50% off. REGISTER NOW. SpaceX’s…

Read original at TechCrunch →
Jul 13, 2026·GizmodoT2 · Outlet reportKEY MOMENT
Apple’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI Sparks Another Musk-Altman Online Spat

OpenAI co-founders-turned-rivals Elon Musk and Sam Altman traded several jabs on X over the weekend. While the two have gone back and forth online plenty of times before, this latest spat was prompted by news that Apple…

Read original at Gizmodo →
Jul 13, 2026·The Next WebT2 · Outlet report
Cursor Sand: the Claude Cowork rival with a Musk catch

This article was published on July 13, 2026 Cursor, the coding tool used across two-thirds of the Fortune 500, is quietly building a general-purpose agent called Sand to take on Anthropic’s Claude Cowork and OpenAI’s…

Read original at The Next Web →
Jul 13, 2026·BBCT2 · Outlet report
Elon Musk's SpaceX IPO made history. One month on has it lost momentum?

SpaceX investors have swung from celebration to apparent concern in its first month as a publicly traded company. When shares in the firm, co-founded and led by Elon Musk, first became available for individuals to buy…

Read original at BBC →
Jul 10, 2026·The Next WebT2 · Outlet reportKEY MOMENT
New 'Ex-Elon' ETFs exclude Tesla and SpaceX from indexes

This article was published on July 10, 2026 Subversive ETFs has filed for two funds that mirror the Nasdaq-100 and S&P 500 but strip out Tesla and SpaceX, a response to index rules that made SpaceX hard to avoid…

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Jul 10, 2026·TechCrunchT2 · Outlet report
China is catching up to Elon Musk's reusable rockets | TechCrunch

Last day to exhibit your breakthrough to 10,000+ tech leaders at Disrupt is on Oct 2. Book Exhibit Table Now. Disrupt doors open Oct. 13. Get your pass and bring someone with you at 50% off. REGISTER NOW. China’s…

Read original at TechCrunch →
Jul 10, 2026·CNNT2 · Outlet reportOPENING
Elon Musk’s plans refer to an idea conceived in the 1960s. What is the Kardashev scale? | CNN

Elon Musk’s plans for the future of SpaceX, and humanity, are rooted in an idea conceived in the 1960s when astronomers began to pick up mysterious, unknown radio sources in the cosmos. Soviet astronomer Nikolai…

Read original at CNN →

Sources & evidence (10)

What this story stands on. Tier 0 is a primary record or the subject's own words; higher tiers must be attributed, never stated as bare fact.

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T2 · Outlet reportGizmodoJul 17, 2026

Elon Musk was riding high after the SpaceX IPO catapulted him to trillionaire status. But his net worth has dipped considerably in recent weeks, even if he won’t be resorting to digging through the couch cushions for rent money. Musk’s net…

View source →
T2 · Outlet reportThe VergeJul 16, 2026

SpaceX’s massive IPO: all the latest news The thirteenth, and first post-IPO, flight test of SpaceX’s massive Starship vehicle was supposed to occur Thursday night, but when the countdown hit zero just before 7PM ET, “Some of the engines…

View source →
T2 · Outlet reportMashableJul 16, 2026

After a bruising attempt in May, SpaceX will push new engine fixes, a revised flip maneuver, and fresh heat-shield experiments on its 13th test flight of Starship. This time, engineers want the rocket booster to separate cleanly from the…

View source →
T2 · Outlet reportTechCrunchJul 15, 2026

Last day to exhibit your breakthrough to 10,000+ tech leaders at Disrupt is on Oct 2. Book Exhibit Table Now. Disrupt doors open Oct. 13. Get your pass and bring someone with you at 50% off. REGISTER NOW. SpaceX’s shares fell to just above…

View source →
T2 · Outlet reportGizmodoJul 13, 2026

OpenAI co-founders-turned-rivals Elon Musk and Sam Altman traded several jabs on X over the weekend. While the two have gone back and forth online plenty of times before, this latest spat was prompted by news that Apple is suing OpenAI.…

View source →
T2 · Outlet reportThe Next WebJul 13, 2026

This article was published on July 13, 2026 Cursor, the coding tool used across two-thirds of the Fortune 500, is quietly building a general-purpose agent called Sand to take on Anthropic’s Claude Cowork and OpenAI’s ChatGPT Work. But with…

View source →

Tier key: T0 = Primary source · T1 = Wire · T2 = Outlet report · T3 = Commentary

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