AFP|Published
Elon Musk has announced plans to give every child in the United States a stake in SpaceX, the billionaire’s rocket and space technology company, starting next year.
"Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America," Musk, the richest man in the world, said on X.
"This will be the first of many," he said, without providing details about how the scheme would work.
There are around 73 million children under the age of 18 in the United States, according to 2024 data from the US Census Bureau.
Musk owns 38 percent of SpaceX, according to Forbes.
His announcement comes after President Donald Trump promised last month to give every American adult $5,000 if his Republican party retains control of Congress in November's midterm elections.
SpaceX set the record for the largest initial public offering in history, raising $85.7 billion in June.
The company's Starship megarocket reached orbit for the first time in September, a milestone for the rocket central to Musk's Mars ambitions.
But enormous technical challenges remain before Starship can fulfill Musk's dreams of reaching the Moon and even Mars - including proving the ship can be refueled in orbit.
NASA is also betting on using a modified version of Starship for missions to return US astronauts to the lunar surface.
Kathleen Curlee, a senior analyst at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, told AFP that last month's test was not "super successful" but did make significant progress.
"It's an achievement for achieving flight and getting into orbit, but from SpaceX's own metrics and goals, they did not accomplish a 10 hour flight and did have the engine trouble," she said.
AFP