Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, on Thursday said his company SpaceX would begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft after he engaged in an extraordinary public fallout with Donald Trump who had threatened to cancel government contracts with Musk’s businesses.
“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk posted on the social media platform X, which he owns.
Nasa relies on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
The next SpaceX Dragon launch is scheduled to take place on 10 June.
Musk’s announcement came amid an escalating dispute with Trump that began after he denounced the president’s tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”.
The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, announced Thursday that his company SpaceX would start decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft following a highly publicized altercation with Donald Trump, who had threatened to revoke government contracts with Musk’s companies.
Musk wrote on his own social media platform, X, that “@SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately in light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts.”.
Trump said he might sever large, lucrative contracts with Musk’s companies, including SpaceX, which is developing a rocket fleet, on his own media platform, Truth Social, just minutes earlier.
“Canceling Elon’s government contracts and subsidies is the simplest way to save billions and billions of dollars in our budget. The fact that Biden didn’t do it always surprised me, Trump remarked.
The Dragon spacecraft, operated by SpaceX, is used by NASA to transport humans to and from the ISS. Over $20 billion in government contracts have been awarded to SpaceX since 2008, mostly from the Department of Defense and NASA.
After being stranded on the ISS for almost nine months due to technical difficulties with their Boeing Starliner capsule, which returned to Earth without them, two NASA astronauts returned to Earth in a Dragon capsule in March.
June 10 is the date of the upcoming SpaceX Dragon launch. On Axiom Mission 4, it is anticipated that the Dragon will transport four passengers to and from the ISS.
In a statement posted on X following Musk’s announcement, NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens stated that the agency “will continue to execute upon the president’s vision for the future of space.”.
“We’ll keep working with our industry partners to make sure the president’s space goals are met,” she continued.
Musk’s announcement coincided with a growing conflict with Trump, which started when he called the president’s tax and spending plan a “disgusting abomination.”.
Afterwards, Musk charged Trump with “ingratitude” for the millions he spent to elect him. Trump responded by expressing his disappointment in Musk.
Musk was “wearing thin,” according to the president’s earlier Thursday post, and the tech billionaire “went crazy” when he was asked to leave the White House last week as head of Trump’s “department of government efficiency.”.
