In Trump vs Musk battle, Nasa is the biggest loser
US President Donald Trump and his once closest aide Elon Musk are at loggerheads days after the billionaire engineer decided to reduce his political role in the Trump administration and re-focus on his multi-million dollar companies Tesla, SpaceX and X.A major feud erupted as Trump and Musk took to social media platforms Truth Social and X, respectively, to berate each other so much that Trump threatened to cancel Musk's government contracts, and Musk hit back with threats of decommissioning the Dragon spacecraft, key to the American space exploration program.advertisementIn the bitter feud between the two, Nasa has emerged as the biggest loser as it balances between prioritising Musk and Trump.
While Trump has certain plans for Nasa, the American space agency is heavily dependent on Musk's SpaceX for most of its operations in the Low Earth Orbit. WHAT HAPPENED? The dispute escalated after Musk publicly criticised a key spending bill backed by the Trump administration, calling it an 'abomination'. Trump responded on his social media platform by suggesting that axing Musk's government contracts would save the US billions and questioned why such action hadn't already been taken.Musk declared on X, "In light of the President's statement about the cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately".However, he later decided to not go ahead with the decommissioning.advertisementNASA IS THE BIGGEST LOSERThe Trump vs Musk feud shows the vulnerability of Nasa as the American space agency is largely dependent on Elon Musk's SpaceX for transporting crew and cargo to the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft, which is subsidised by the US government, is the lone vehicle that is ferrying American and allied astronauts to the Space Station to ensure its smooth operation until 2030. SpaceX is also one of the biggest contractors for Nasa and the US Space Force for launching their satellites, probes and missions to Low Earth Orbit and geostationary orbit and even in deep space. The reusable rocket fleet is used by global players and SpaceX conducts those launches from Nasa's launch pads.SpaceX has also been contracted to crash the Space Station in 2030 at the end of its life. The company is building a vehicle that will be used to gradually lower its orbit before it burns up in the atmosphere.
The Trump vs Musk feud shows the vulnerability of Nasa. (Photo: Reuters)
Meanwhile, Nasa is still looking for a permanent administrator to run the show. Days after Musk distanced himself from the Trump government, the administration pulled back its support for Jared Issacman, who was nominated to be the next Nasa boss. Issacman is a close confidant of Musk and has flown on several missions to space aboard the Dragon spacecraft.He was also the first private astronaut to conduct a spacewalk as he stepped on top of the Dragon spacecraft flying above Earth.Nasa is still reeling from the budget cuts and firings that were ushered during Elon Musk's White House stint as the head of Doge, a body formed by Trump to enhance efficiency and cut down spending. Several missions are looking at delays due to budgetary limitations.From friends to foes as the Trump-Musk relationship evolves, Nasa is still trying to understand which side to pick as two of the world's most publicly outspoken leaders negotiate its fate and future.Trending Reel
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