> Execs nor shareholders are required to have clearance and even the ones that have clearance aren't read in to top secret stuff without a need to know
No clearance would absolutely compromise Musk’s ability to control SpaceX. (I think that’s a good thing.)
It wouldn’t matter for spacex, which is the point. It wouldn’t make “military contracts awkward”, whatever that means.
Musk would still maintain the ability to control what SpaceX targets as far as customers go. And he could easily decline any plans to pursue contracts that require changes in strategy.
Him having clearance is irrelevant to both the govt and to the future of spacex. Gwynne runs those parts of the company. Musk is only playing with Starship when he’s looking at spacex at all.
Aren't they using the same rockets for non-government missions that they use for government missions, so the classified parts of government missions would just concern the payload and where they fly it to? Musk shouldn't need access to that information to run the company.
> the classified parts of government missions would just concern the payload and where they fly it to?
Which in turn affects practically everything from launch timing to fuelling thresholds to whether the rocket can be used in reusable or expendable mode and thus whether that booster can be reüsed for the next launch. (Same for Starshield’s requirements impacting Starlink.)
Note that I’m not even touching ITAR, which Musk could be found subject to as a triple national.
No clearance would absolutely compromise Musk’s ability to control SpaceX. (I think that’s a good thing.)