Musk-Trump rupture poses serious threat to NASA, Pentagon programs — Report
Elon Musk's threat, which he later retracted, to cut off NASA's use of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft would be a huge blow to NASA
- NEW YORK — Elon Musk's threat, which he later retracted, to cut off NASA's
use of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft would be a huge blow to NASA, depriving the
space agency of the only American vehicle capable of transporting astronauts to
the International Space Station and dramatically changing how NASA would access
the $100 billion orbiting laboratory, The Washington Post has reported.
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- The threat, posted on X, came during an escalating fight
between the wealthiest man in the world and President Donald Trump, after Trump
had threatened to cancel all of Musk's company's federal contracts. "Given
SpaceX's importance to multiple federal programs, severing those relationships
could leave NASA as well as the Pentagon and intelligence agencies in a
lurch," noted the report.
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- Several hours after making the threat, Musk relented,
saying in response to a post on X that he should cool off and reconsider:
"Ok, we won't decommission Dragon."
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- Over the years, SpaceX has become a vital contractor,
launching sensitive national security payloads such as satellites that provide
missile warning, battlefield communication and guide munitions to precise
targets, Xinhua news agency reported.
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- In a statement, Bethany Stevens, NASA's press secretary,
did not address how NASA would continue to fly its astronauts to the ISS
without SpaceX, writing only that "NASA will continue to execute upon the
President's vision for the fulfillment of space. We will continue to work with
our industry partners to ensure the President's objectives in space are
met."
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- Earlier Elon Musk called for the impeachment of US
President Donald Trump and announced the decommissioning of the vital SpaceX
programme after accusing that Trump’s name is in the Epstein files, according
to media reports.
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- “In light of the
President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, SpaceX
will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk said in a post
on X.
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