Both NASA and the U.S. Space Force rely heavily on SpaceX to carry out launches. (Image credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
A public and heated confrontation between President Donald Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk on Thursday (June 5) has raised concerns about the future of the American space industry.
One estimate suggests the conflict of words could jeopardize SpaceX's $22 billion in government contracts with several U.S. space initiatives, though the real hidden figure could be much higher.
Following the president's threats on his Truth Social account to potentially cut off government contracts and subsidies to Musk's companies, the SpaceX CEO responded that his space company would “immediately begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft.”
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In light of the President's announcement of possible cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately pic.twitter.com/NG9sijjkgWJune 5, 2025
Later that day, Musk responded to a follower who asked him to “calm down,” saying, “Good advice. Okay, we're not decommissioning Dragon.”
Good advice. Okay, we won't decommission Dragon.June 6, 2025
The conflict began on Tuesday (June 3) when Musk criticized the administration's tax and spending bill on the social media platform X.
“This huge, outrageous, pig-like congressional spending bill is a disgusting spectacle. Shame on those who supported it: You know what you did was wrong. You know that,” Musk wrote in X.
On Thursday, the situation escalated into an open spat on social media, with Musk claiming that Trump's name appeared in unpublished documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The White House condemned the allegations. “This is an unfortunate incident on Elon's part, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted,” X officials said.
Trump, for his part, claimed Musk was “just nuts,” writing: “The easiest way to save billions of dollars in our budget is to end Elon's government subsidies and contracts. I've always wondered why Biden didn't do this!”
What is the status of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft and why might its decommissioning cause problems?
SpaceX's Dragon capsule is a reusable spacecraft capable of carrying up to seven passengers and cargo to and from Earth orbit, SpaceX said. NASA currently uses the capsule to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), so canceling those government contracts effectively eliminates America's ability to send astronauts into space from U.S. soil, according to Live Science's sister site, Space.com.
Sourse: www.livescience.com
