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SPACEX LOSES BUSINESS BECAUSE OF DELAYS AFTER ROCKET EXPLOSION

SpaceX has lost a contract because of continued delays in its operations after one of its rockets exploded in September.

British company Inmarsat will switch to Europebased company Arianespace to launch a new satellite to help provide broadband connectivity on airplanes, it said Thursday. That launch has a target date of mid-2017.

Inmarsat did not disclose how much the contract was worth, but it said another one of its contracts with SpaceX stands and that it “is looking forward to continuing to work with SpaceX going forward.”

When reached for comment by SiliconBeat, a SpaceX spokesman sent the following statement: “We’re continuing to make progress with the investigation into our September 1 anomaly and we are working to safely and reliably return to flight in early January. Inmarsat is a longtime partner, and we wish them well with their upcoming mission.”

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a test fire at Cape Canaveral on Sept. 1, blowing up along with it Facebook’s satellite that was meant to bring internet access to far-flung areas of the world.

Hawthorne-based SpaceX said this week that its first launch since the explosion, which was scheduled for December, is going to be pushed to January instead. However, the FAA says the company, whose CEO is Elon Musk, does not yet have the license for its planned launch, Wired reports. That launch is supposed to be for satellite company Iridium Communications, with which SpaceX has a huge contract. — Levi Sumagaysay

JACK DORSEY ON TRUMP’S USE OF TWITTER: ‘FASCINATING’ AND ‘COMPLICATED’

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has some mixed feelings about President-elect Donald Trump’s tweeting.

Trump’s 140-character social media posts have made news headlines, been the subject of sketch comedy but have also raised concerns about hate speech and misinformation spreading on the social

media site.

On Tuesday night at Recode’s Code Commerce conference in San Francisco, Dorsey shared his thoughts about Trump’s use of Twitter.

“It’s important time for the company and the service and having the President-elect on our service, using that as a direct line as communication allows everyone to see … what’s on his mind in the moment and I think that’s interesting,” he said. “I think it’s fascinating. I haven’t seen that before, so we’re definitely entering a new world where everything is on the surface and we can all see it in real time and we can have conversations about it.” But how does Dorsey personally feel? “Complicated,” the 40-year-old tech mogul told the audience.

“We certainly play a big part in distributing news and opinions and what people think about what’s going on in the world, and you know, we have a role and responsibility to make sure that people are seeing what they need to see and they can have easy conversations and really get to the truth,” Dorsey said. “Um, and that’s complicated.”

And Twitter helped Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton reach the masses as well. The company said yesterday that the most shared political tweet this year was from Clinton’s concession speech.

Social media companies, including Twitter, have been grappling with how much influence they’ve had over the outcome of the presidential election. The San Francisco tech firm also has reportedly been suspending accounts such as @PatrioticPepe that tweet out automated responses to Trump’s tweets.

But does Twitter feel responsible for Trump’s presidential victory? “America’s responsible for Donald Trump being president,” Dorsey said. — Queenie Wong