February 23, 2025

Musk Threatens All Federal Workers with Dismissal If They Don't Explain Their Work in 48 Hours (Source: AP)
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been given little more than 48 hours to explain what they accomplished over the last week, sparking confusion across key agencies as billionaire Elon Musk expands his crusade to slash the size of federal government. “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted on X, which he owns. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

Shortly afterward, federal employees — including some judges, court staff and federal prison officials — received a three-line email from OPM with this instruction: “Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager.” The deadline to reply was listed as Monday at 11:59 p.m., although the email did not include Musk’s social media threat about those who fail to respond.

The latest unusual directive from Musk’s team injects a new sense of chaos across beleaguered multiple agencies. Editor's Note: A friend asked: Who will read all those emails!? My answer: Grok. It's not far-fetched that DOGE is stealing our data to feed Elon Musk's 'Grok' AI, so it can become the Government's preferred AI to replace civil servant workers. (2/23)

Hegseth Fires Top Female Navy Officer (Source: AP)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the firings of two additional senior officers: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Jim Slife. Franchetti becomes the second top female military officer to be fired by the Trump administration. Trump fired Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan just a day after he was sworn in. (2/23)

Facebook Suspends NASAWatch as DOGE Descends. A Curious Coincidence? (Source: Houston Chronicle)
On Thursday, Facebook suspended the decades-old page for NASAWatch, a watchdog website that obsessively — and often humorously — covers the agency. Keith Cowing, a former NASA space biologist, started the site in 1996 with a leaked memo about impending layoffs at the agency. It quickly became a daily read for many NASA employees and contractors. And because Cowing can say what NASA employees can’t, he’s frequently quoted in bigger, more mainstream media.

"Facebook notified me that it had suspended the NASAWatch page 'because it doesn’t follow our Community Standards.' They said that it was impersonating NASA," said Cowing. "In the appeal, there’s no place for comments. I could have said something like, 'I was quoted today in two newspapers. I did Bloomberg the other day. Washington Post cites me by name and as NASAWatch.' I could have told them that I was the first website to get press credentials from a government agency." Editor's Note: The suspension has been lifted. (2/21)

Texas is the New Space State, Although California and Florida May Disagree (Source: Dallas Morning News)
Texas is now the country’s second most populous state, trailing only California. The economy has changed a lot. And while Texas still has an important oil and gas industry, the state is increasingly powered by space exploration and other high-tech pursuits. Indeed, 18 of the nation’s 20 largest aerospace manufacturing companies have a presence here. At some point during this transformation, Texas became the nation’s leading space state.

Californians would disagree. After all, they’ve got Vandenberg Space Force Base, preferred site of all polar orbit satellite launches. Vandenberg and Los Angeles Air Force Base serve as two of the U.S. Space Force’s six major facilities. In addition, Southern California is home to aerospace powerhouse Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Floridians would mount an even stiffer resistance to Texas claims of primacy. What about the Kennedy Space Center, they’d ask? And they’d have a point. Florida is what we all think of when we think about NASA countdowns, and that’s not going to change in the near future. Florida is also the home of Patrick Space Force Base, headquarters for the Space Coast’s Eastern Range, and the offices of a host of space commerce and exploration companies, including United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, Northrup Grumman, and SpaceX. (2/22)

New Glenn Chunk Washes Ashore in Bahamas (Source: CNN)
A massive chunk of a Blue Origin rocket’s nose cone washed up on the shore of a Bahamian island near a tourist destination. The piece of Blue Origin debris is not a sign of a rocket launch gone awry. Rather, the debris appears to have been discarded as expected from the company’s New Glenn rocket during its maiden flight on January 16. (2/21)

US Could Cut Ukraine's Access to Starlink Internet Services Over Minerals (Source: Reuters)
U.S. negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine's critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country's access to Elon Musk's vital Starlink satellite internet system, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Ukraine's continued access to SpaceX-owned Starlink was brought up in discussions between U.S. and Ukrainian officials after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy turned down an initial proposal from U.S. (2/22)

SpaceX’s $15 Million Shopping and Entertainment Hub Near Starbase (Source: Texas Border Business)
SpaceX is expanding its footprint beyond space exploration with the development of RioWest, a $15 million shopping and entertainment complex near its Starbase facility in Brownsville, Texas. The project aims to deliver a premier retail and dining experience for both the local community and the influx of visitors attracted to SpaceX’s operations.

Beyond RioWest, SpaceX is further investing in the Brownsville area by developing a $100 million office and industrial facility near Starbase. Construction on this facility commenced in February 2024 and is expected to be completed by January 2025. These ambitious projects highlight SpaceX’s commitment to enhancing the local infrastructure and amenities, benefiting its employees and the surrounding community. (2/21)

Saltzman Bars Space Force Staff from Mitchell Institute Events (Source: Breaking Defense)
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman has barred all Space Force personnel from participating in any events sponsored by the Mitchell Institute, pending further instructions. The ban was conveyed to Space Force and US Space Command leaders in a Thursday evening email blast signed by Maj. Gen. Steven Whitney, Space Force staff director.

The email does not list a reason for the decision. However, it follows hard on the heels of the Feb. 19 release of a new Mitchell report calling on the Defense Department to more clearly define the Space Force’s role in warfighting. The report, which was based on a workshop attended by Guardians, also found that Saltzman’s overarching theory of space power, dubbed “Competitive Endurance,” gives the impression of being weighed toward defensive operations rather than offensive actions — and that there continues to be some hesitancy within the Guardian corps about warfighting in space. (2/21)