Musk threatens to paralyze US space program

The SpaceX CEO said he would decommission the only US spacecraft certified to fly American astronauts

The SpaceX CEO has claimed that his company “will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” after President Donald Trump threatened to terminate all US government subsidies and contracts with Elon Musk’s firms.

Trump and Musk engaged in a dramatic exchange on social media on Thursday over the US president’s “Big and Beautiful” federal tax and spending bill, which the former White House government efficiency czar had blasted as a “pork-filled, disgusting abomination” that would push the US into “debt slavery.”

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump stated on Truth Social, arguing that the only reason the Tesla CEO “went CRAZY” about the legislation was because it would cut tax credits for purchasers of his electric vehicles.

“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk responded in a post on X just minutes later.

In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately pic.twitter.com/NG9sijjkgW— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule is the only US spacecraft currently certified and capable of sending American astronauts to space. NASA has relied on it to deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station since 2020, following a long hiatus after the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011.

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Boeing’s competitor Starliner project suffered years of delays and technical malfunctions. Its first crewed flight last June – originally scheduled for 2017 – ended with two NASA astronauts stranded aboard the ISS, after the spacecraft was deemed unsafe for return. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams safely returned to Earth only in March, aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, after Trump urged Musk to help rescue the duo, while criticizing his predecessor Joe Biden for leaving them “stranded.”

SpaceX has received more than $20 billion in contracts from NASA, the Air Force, and other US agencies since 2008, becoming one of the biggest federal contractors. It remains unclear how serious Musk’s threat was, and how it would affect the US space program.

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Earlier this year, NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos extended their seat-sharing agreement, which allows Americans to travel to the ISS aboard Soyuz spacecraft, through 2027.