There is more to this story, that more is Jeff Bezos, Boeing, and UAW.
I reiterate, the powers that be will never let Elon Musk put a single Starship on Mars. They do not want a repeat of the American "mistake". They will use every single means at their disposal to prevent that, including attacking his other companies, environmental regulatory harassment, and lawsuits against NASA to prevent SpaceX from getting any contract (even though they are now the most reliable and cheapest Space launch provider).
They're already suing him for not hiring non-US nationals despite it being illegal for him to hire anyone who isn't a citizen due to ITAR and/or other arms control treaties/laws.
There is more to this story, that more is Jeff Bezos, Boeing, and UAW.
I reiterate, the powers that be will never let Elon Musk put a single Starship on Mars. They do not want a repeat of the American "mistake". They will use every single means at their disposal to prevent that, including attacking his other companies, environmental regulatory harassment, and lawsuits against NASA to prevent SpaceX from getting any contract (even though they are now the most reliable and cheapest Space launch provider).
They're already suing him for not hiring non-US nationals despite it being illegal for him to hire anyone who isn't a citizen due to ITAR and/or other arms control treaties/laws.