Lunar lander lost by SpaceIL; EVGo constructing battery storage; Wag to lay off 54
West Hollywood-based Wag Labs Inc. will lay off 54 employees beginning June 3, the Business Journal reports. The layoffs are the second round this year for Wag, which laid off 38 people from its Hollywood Hills office in March. Wag said in a statement it was “allowing those in good standing to apply for other roles within the company.”
The Israeli lunar lander launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was expected to land on the moon today but did not succeed, according to TechCrunch. The craft lost telemetry and suffered engine failure before losing contact with mission control and was officially declared lost. SpaceIL, the company launching the craft via SpaceX, originally began their bid for a lunar touchdown as part of a Lunar Xprize contest organized by Google and Playa Vista-based Xprize Foundation Inc. The deadline passed, but SpaceIL pursued the goal regardless.
EVGo Battery Storage Construction Underway
Sawtelle-based EVGo Services announced today it has is constructing 14 battery storage systems at 11 fast-charging locations across the country. EVGo operates 1,100 fast chargers and Socaltech reports the company hopes its deployment of more charging options will drive down costs charged by utilities.
Tech reporter Samson Amore can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8335. Follow him on Twitter @samsonamore.
