KEY POINTS

  • SpaceX is making face shields and hand sanitizers in its facilities
  • These items will be donated to local hospitals and businesses fighting COVID-19 coronavirus
  • After one employee was tested positive, SpaceX asked several employees to stay in quarantine for 14 days

SpaceX is making face shields and hand sanitizers to donate towards the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus crisis has engulfed several countries and businesses have come forward to help the administration in dealing with this deadly virus.

According to an internal SpaceX memo obtained by CNBC, the company is in the process of manufacturing face shields and hand sanitizers. These products will be donated to businesses and local hospitals.

The space company informed its employees that it manufactured 75 face shields over the weekend and delivered to a local health body called Cedars Sinai in Hawthorne, California.

Apart from face shields, SpaceX also donated 100 tyvek protective suits to healthcare workers. The company wrote in the memo that it is set to produce hand sanitizers that comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and can effectively kill the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, a CNBC report stated that one SpaceX employee and one health care worker have tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus. The company’s internal memo revealed that some employees are asked to remain in quarantine for 14 days.

During the coronavirus crisis, several companies are cutting salaries or laying off their employees. However, SpaceX wants to hire welders and engineers for its Starship project.

“The design goal for Starship is three flights per day on average [per ship], which equates to roughly 1,000 flights per year at greater than 100 tons per flight. This means every 10 ships would yield 1 megaton per year to orbit,” Jessica Anderson, lead manufacturing engineer at SpaceX said at the launch webcast for the new Starlink internet satellites, Space.com reported.

“This is a significant effort, and we are looking for highly skilled engineers and welders to help us make this a reality,” she added. “If you're interested in joining the team, please take a look at SpaceX.com/careers.”

The Starship spacecraft is 165-foot-tall and can carry up to 100 people and is being built at the company’s South Texas facility.

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