ROCKET FIRM MUSK’S BRIGHT SPOT
Finally, a success story for Elon Musk. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. launched a commercial satellite for Telesat from Florida, marking the rocket company’s 16th mission of 2018, two years of uninterrupted achievements. The launch, the 16th successful mission of about 30 targeted this year, is a bright spot in an otherwise tumultuous few months for CEO Elon Musk, who also heads Tesla Inc. Musk has had a rough time since his spur-of-the-moment tweet about taking the carmaker private, only to drop the idea a little more than two weeks later amid criticism, shareholder lawsuits, and an investigation by federal regulators. Early Monday, the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. The rocket deployed the Telstar 18 Vantage satellite, which will expand communications services in Southeast Asia, Mongolia, Australia and New Zealand.