--- title: "Elon Musk Blames SpaceX Layoffs On “Absolutely Insane Projects”" description: "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk blamed the company's decision to lay off 10 percent of its workforce on its Starship and Starlink projects this week." date: "2019-02-03" modified: "2019-02-03" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-space-absolutely-insane" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "tesla" --- # Elon Musk Blames SpaceX Layoffs On “Absolutely Insane Projects” ![SpaceX CEO Elon Musk blamed the company's decision to lay off 10 percent of its workforce on its Starship and Starlink projects this week.]() *\Image: Tag Hartman-Simkins/Mario Tama/Getty Images\* ## SpaceX Layoffs SpaceX CEO Elon Musk blamed the company's decision to [lay off 10 percent of its workforce]() on its Starship and Starlink projects this week, calling them "absolutely insane." "SpaceX has two absolutely insane projects that would not only bankrupt the company," he said, as [reported by *CNBC*](). "There's Starship and Starlink." ## "Absolutely Insane" The comments came during an investor call for Tesla, the electric car manufacturer where Musk is also CEO. Though his language was colorful, the two projects he blamed for the SpaceX's tight purse strings are indeed complex. Starship is the company's [oft-renamed rocket]() that it plans to use to transport crews of up to 100 humans [to Mars]() and [the Moon](). Starlink will remain closer to home, but is still ambitious: it's a [network of satellites]() that the company plans to use to offer global broadband internet. ## Star Power Starship and Starlink are putting such a strain on SpaceX's finances, Musk said during the investor call, that the company is going to need to remain fiscally cautious until they're completed. "SpaceX has to be incredibly spartan with expenditures until those programs reach fruition," he said. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk blames SpaceX layoffs on 'absolutely insane' Mars rocket and satellite internet projects]() \[*CNBC*\] ***More on SpaceX:** [Hurricane-Force Gusts Knocked Over SpaceX's Starship Last Night]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()