NASA and Pentagon are looking for alternatives to Spacix over Trump and Musk conflict

NASA and Pentagon officials responded quickly last week, encouraging Spacix’s competitors to Elon Musk to develop alternative rockets and spacecraft faster after President Donald Trump threatened to terminate the contracts with Spasix, and Musk responded.

Government officials were particularly shocked when Musk responded to Trump with his own threat: Spacix will stop using its Dragon spacecraft, which would leave the space agency without a way to transport its astronauts to the International Space Station.

Musk later withdrew his threat. But it has upset NASA officials, which entrusts Spacix’s lives to its astronauts, and in the Pentagon, which relies heavily on the company to launch its most sensitive satellites.

The concerned reaction in space and national security agencies highlights the government’s risk of the Space of key tasks, including classified missions. SpaceX, with contracts worth billions, transports people and cargo to the MBS, launches pentagon satellites and develops satellites used by intelligence agencies. Concerns are further intensified as competitors are slowly progressing, leaving SpaceX’s dominance mainly unpredictable, and the government with little options.

This report is based on interviews with dozens of industry and government people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions.

A NASA official said the monitoring of a quarrel between Trump and Musk on social media on Thursday was initially « fun ». But when Musk called for Dragon’s withdrawal, « it became really frightening. »

There was a similar reaction to the Pentagon, where one employee said the officers « looked at each other and said, » Oh, this is no longer funny.  » We realized that we don’t see television.

Musk’s behavior has previously worried NASA officials. In 2018, NASA ordered an investigation into SpaceX security culture after Musk seemed to have consumed a small amount of marijuana in Joe Rogan’s trace. But his sudden threat on social media to suspend NASA’s access to the orbital space station, which cost the agency around $ 100 billion over its lifespan, « bothered the border, » a former agency official said. « When you realize that he is ready to close everything based on impulse, such behavior and addiction to him are dangerous … I can tell you that NASA has deep concern. »

The dispute between Musk and Trump was further fueled by the withdrawal of Jared Aisakmann’s nomination for NASA administrator by the White House. Aisakman, who has twice flew into space with Spacix, is considered a close ally of Musk.
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Since the exchange on Thursday, at least three commercial space companies, Rockets Lab, Stoke Space and Blue Origin by Jeff Bezos, have been contacted by government officials on their rockets status and when they could be available for government missions. (Bezos owns the Washington Post.)

Representatives of Sierra Space, which develops a spacecraft Drim Chase, which could deliver a cargo to the space station, were meeting with NASA officials on Thursday as the Trump and Musk quarrels were heating up.

« Sierra Space » is ready to provide uninterrupted support for the International Space Station, « said Fatih Ozman, CEO of the company, in a statement to Post.

He added that « NASA has mentioned that they want diversity and do not want to depend on a single provider. » Drim Chase « is in the final stages of testing and integration into the Kennedy Space Center » -said Ozman.

– We are working closely with NASA’s leadership to fly the spacecraft later this year.  » The company is also working on a variant of Drim Chase to transport astronauts – he said, « which NASA is studying. »

Musk’s statement also upset Capitol Hill staff. A key congressional committee asked about the status of the Boeing space capsule, according to a person familiar with the question. NASA plans to use a staff to transport teams to the Space Station along with the Spaceix Dragon capsule. However, the spacecraft has been behind the scheduled schedule for years, and during its first human crew mission to the MBS last summer, it came across so many problems that NASA decided it was not safe to return the Boeing crew. But with the threat of Musk to stop Dragon, the Congress assistant wanted to know when the starliner would be ready to fly again. In recent months, NASA has spoken a little about the status of a Starliner. But in response to journalists’ questions, the agency issued a statement late on Friday, saying it plans a flight with a starliner to the spacecraft « in early 2026, in anticipation of system certification and solving the technical problems of the Starliner ». NASA is still assessing whether the capsule will fly with astronauts or only with a load.

Although he later withdrew, Musk’s threat to limit Dragon’s use of NASA could hurt the company, one of the most trusted government partners – said Todd Harrison, a defense analyst at the US Institute of Enterprises.

« It’s almost like an embargo at the space station, » he said. « Musk said she would cut NASA out of her own lab in space. » Harrison said the threat was reminiscent of Musk’s decision in 2022 not to activate the Starlink Internet system for Ukraine to attack Russian forces. That decision has also caused outrage that the nation’s defense should not be in the hands of a person or company. Given Spacix’s experience in managing the constellation of Starlink website, the company was thought to be a natural choice for Trump’s proposed Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield, which would rely on satellite satellites.

But Musk’s threat was so impulsive that it would undoubtedly upset defense officials, said Harrison, who would not look positively to « the idea that the nation’s defense could be held hostage to Elon Musk’s impulsive tweets. »

For NASA astronauts, Musk’s post on social media has « become very personal » because it can affect their ability to fly – said Gareth Rasman, a former NASA astronaut who had previously worked at Space.

– We should not exaggerate with the reaction to the current mood on social networks. But when your hopes and dreams are tied to this, you can’t but think, « Oh, God, will I fly into space? – he added.

The Pentagon recently pledged to expand the military and space industrial base, enabling competition to reduce costs and increase innovation. Space forces announced a strategy last year that the service would strive to avoid « excessive dependence on a single provider or solution ».

To allow more companies to compete for profitable space deals, the Pentagon recently created two « lanes » for launching competitions. Tape 1 allows new participants to compete for individual contracts to launch smaller and less critical satellites; Tape 2 is reserved for more powerful and proven rockets that will carry satellites that must not risk failure.

However, Spacix continued to dominate those missions. Her Falcon 9 rocket launches unprecedented rhythm, while the rockets of its competitors, including a volcano of the United Alliance for launch, New Glenn’s Blue Origin and Rockets Lab Neutron are still largely unprocessed. New Glenn has launched only once; Volcano twice; Neutron never. And even before Musk’s post on social media, the Pentagon publicly expressed concern about the pace of volcano development, although he received a certification of national security missions.

In a statement to the House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee last month, the Major General of the US Space Forces, Steven Purdi, said performers like Ula must « establish a culture of responsibility and correct the confidence deficit to prove to (the CEO of Purchases).

From a legal and practical point of view, threats from the president and Musk would be difficult to implement, procurement specialists say. If the government or company gave up, they would face major financial penalties, government supplies experts said. And if the contractor withdraws, it could affect his ability to receive future contracts.

However, some warned of Musk’s penetration into politics and consequences for his companies. In an interview last year, Peter Beck, CEO of Rockets Lab, who strives to compete for national security launch contracts, predicted that Musk’s Twitter, now X, and time spent on Trump could end up damaging his businesses.

« It certainly makes people feel uncomfortable, » he said then. « After all, if you carry out important national security missions, the responsibility falls on the CEO. »