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Memphis is the new Starbase?

“NASA desperately needs SpaceX, and SpaceX knows it, and Elon knows it.”

Everything is coming up AI at SpaceX.

Credit:

Aurich Lawson | Getty Images

Everything is coming up AI at SpaceX.

Credit:

Aurich Lawson | Getty Images

For nearly a quarter of a century, Elon Musk and his essential partner at SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell, viewed the United States government as El Dorado, the mythical city of gold.

Like machete-wielding treasure hunters, Musk and Shotwell hacked through a tangled jungle filled with lurking carnivores such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, as well as bean counters and regulators. Over time, against long odds, the pair cleared a path for SpaceX to contracts at NASA and the US military. They sued when things did not go their way. They hollered about unfair playing fields.…