• In a companywide email, a copy of which was obtained by CNBC the day after Thanksgiving, Elon Musk described a grim situation with SpaceX's development of Raptor rocket engines.
• Musk stated, "The Raptor production situation is significantly worse than it appeared a few weeks ago."
• The company's Starship rocket is powered by Raptor engines, according to Musk, who also stated that SpaceX faced "a genuine risk of bankruptcy if we do not accomplish a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year."

Elon Musk is frustrated with SpaceX's progress in developing the Raptor engines that will power its Starship rocket.

In a companywide email sent the day after Thanksgiving, he outlined a grim situation, which CNBC obtained a copy of.

Musk stated, "The Raptor production situation is significantly worse than it appeared a few weeks ago."

Musk later stated, "We face a true risk of bankruptcy if we don't accomplish a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year."

SpaceX is working on a gigantic next-generation rocket called Starship that will be used to launch freight and people on missions to the moon and Mars. The company is putting prototypes through their paces at a facility in southern Texas, and has already completed several short test flights. However, in order to advance to orbital launches, each rocket prototype will require up to 39 Raptor engines, necessitating a rapid increase in engine production.

Musk's note to SpaceX staff clarifies the significance of former Vice President of Propulsion Will Heltsley's departure earlier this month. Heltsley has been taken off Raptor development before he left, and Musk said in his email that the company's leadership has been investigating into the program's flaws since then, discovering the situation "to be substantially more severe" than Musk had previously imagined.