SpaceX has decided to fire at least some of the employees involved in an open letter distributed through the company's internal communications system last Wednesday, the New York Times reported.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell also circulated an email to the company outlining the logic behind the layoffs and generally condemning the letter, which, among other things, challenged Elon Musk's use of Twitter.

The newspaper said Shotwell's email said employees involved with circulating the letter had been fired for making other staff feel "uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views".

In the original open letter, the group of employees not only called on SpaceX to “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior,” but also to better define its broad internal policies against what constitutes acceptable behavior by employees, and for leadership to take advantage for ensuring it lives up to its high standards as a workplace.