Moon over Musk

Politico

21 hours ago

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The Spotlight
The alliance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk — to borrow a phrase from the space community — has undergone a rapid unscheduled disassembly.
Yet amid all the fireworks Thursday from the duo's public meltdown, one area of the space world seems to have a brighter future: the moon mission.
Context: Musk, the SpaceX founder and well-known Mars enthusiast, has argued against returning astronauts to the lunar surface. But the stunning forced exit of the billionaire's hand-picked nominee for the top NASA job and Musk's massive rupture with the president has handed moon backers in Congress and industry an opening — and they're seizing it.
What's happening, Part I: A ton of major space companies — just not SpaceX — are launching an ad campaign going big on the moon, according to two industry officials granted anonymity to discuss the effort. The move is the first sign of real pushback against the behemoth space company and its founder, who only days ago seemed to lock down government contracts every time he blinked.
A television ad funded by the companies, who do not go by an umbrella name, will appear on television in the coming days with a pitch clearly aimed at Trump. A narrator, underlaid by dramatic images of America's Apollo missions, implores voters to call senators in support of the moon mission and 'keep America first in space.'
A separate letter addressed to the Senate Commerce Committee and obtained by POLITICO backs investments in the moon, and is signed by a lengthy slate of prominent space companies — but not (you guessed it) SpaceX.
What's happening, Part II: The Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday evening unveiled a new reconciliation bill that would channel $10 billion to NASA, much of it for the space agency's effort to return to the moon through the Artemis program. The White House's NASA budget had proposed major cuts to Artemis, including slashing a planned lunar space station and moon missions.
'Anybody who's following space will have noticed how deeply committed [the committee is] to getting back to the moon, particularly before the Chinese get there,' said a committee aide, who was granted anonymity to discuss the bill.
SpaceX'd Out: All of this is happening amid Musk's very public fall from grace.
Trump, during the social media showdown with his former confidante, threatened to cancel Musk's contracts with the government. The SpaceX founder responded by saying he would end the Dragon spacecraft contract, which is the U.S.'s only reliable way of accessing the International Space Station. (But he also suggested late Thursday night that he might not actually do so.)
And of course, Trump last week abruptly pulled the NASA administrator nomination for Musk ally Jared Isaacman, just days ahead of his likely confirmation by the Senate. Isaacman, speaking on a podcast this week, linked his ouster to Musk's provocative departure from the White House.
'I don't think the timing was much of a coincidence,' he said.
What next: This all means Congress may now have a stronger hand in negotiations with the White House over the NASA budget, which was written before Musk's break from Trump and heavily favors Mars.
The administration's budget proposes major cuts to spending for the moon in favor of nearly $1 billion for landing an astronaut on Mars. SpaceX, thanks to provisions in the bill, was likely to snag a lucrative contract to build the landing system for any red planet mission. That seems much less feasible now.
Senators from states with large NASA centers — think Alabama and Louisiana — are particularly keen to latch onto moon funding.
Trump has voiced support for a Mars mission, meaning the idea may not have completely faded. But with Musk's implosion and the latest moon push, a return to the lunar surface is on firmer ground than it was just a week ago.
WELCOME TO POLITICO PRO SPACE. It's our inaugural edition and a telling time to start. We've seen deep slashes to NASA's budget, the space agency's nominee pulled, and a feud explode between the world's biggest space contractor and the president. We can't wait for next week.
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Galactic Government
MAKE A DEAL: Florida Rep. Mike Haridopolos, who chairs the House's subcommittee on space and aeronautics, told me Wednesday that he was against the White House's massive NASA cuts — making him one of the first Republicans to publicly voice opposition.
'Will a 26 percent cut to NASA hold? Absolutely not,' he said. 'We're going to be talking with the president and his team, with OMB about the paramount importance of space.'
China: Haridopolos emphasized competition with China as a driving reason not to slash the space agency's funding. The proposed cancellation of Gateway — a lunar space station partnership with the European Space Agency — opens the way for Chinese influence, he said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who leads the committee that oversees NASA, underscored a remarkably similar message during Isaacman's confirmation hearing.
The Florida lawmaker said he was optimistic that the cuts wouldn't come to fruition. Trump 'believes in the space program,' he said. 'He knows that we want there's no second place to space.'
TICKET TO RIDE: Sens. John Cornyn, Ben Ray Luján, Rick Scott, and Mark Kelly introduced a bill Thursday that would streamline licensing processes for commercial space companies, opening the way to a boom in rocket launches.
The bill, dubbed the Launch Act, would allow the Federal Aviation Administration to eliminate overly bureaucratic steps in the application process.
The law would also create a streamlined process for licensing commercial satellites used to observe the Earth. And it would move the Office of Space Commerce from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and place it directly under the Transportation secretary, a move that would elevate the office's access to key decision makers.
Why it matters: Companies such as SpaceX have long complained about the slow pace of launch licensing. Streamlining the process could lead to a significant uptick in an already booming schedule. Companies launched 145 U.S. rockets in 2024, up from 109 the previous year.
Military
SPACE COMMAND: Lawmakers pressed Air Force Secretary Troy Meink on Thursday to keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado as the Trump administration weighs moving the headquarters to Alabama.
The Defense Department established the command in 2019 and temporarily placed it in Colorado while the Air Force evaluated permanent sites. Trump chose Alabama as the permanent headquarters but former President Joe Biden reversed that decision and selected Colorado.
What he said: Meink, in a House Armed Services Committee hearing, conceded that Space Command would see civilian employees quit if the HQ moved from Colorado to Alabama.
'It would be very important that we manage that move over a period of time, if that occurs,' the Air Force chief said.
Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colo.) called for the Pentagon to resume headquarters construction at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, calling it the 'most effective' home for Space Command.
Context: Officials have paused construction because of a legal requirement to hold off until the Pentagon inspector general and the Government Accountability Office released their reports on the Biden administration's 2023 basing decision.
Those reports are out, but Meink said the Air Force is still reviewing the GAO's findings.
The Reading Room
— Senate Commerce reconciliation bill proposes new space launch fee: POLITICO
— Space Force awards BAE $1.2B for missile warning sats in MEO: Breaking Defense
— Impulse Space Raises $300M Series C: Payload
— Space Force shifts upfront range upgrade costs to commercial firms: Defense News
— Some parts of Trump's proposed budget for NASA are literally draconian: Ars Technica
Event Horizon
TUESDAY:
Axiom-4 launches private astronauts to the International Space Station.
The Hudson Institute holds a discussio n on defending in outer space with Rep. Jeff Crank.
Rep. George Whitesides speaks with SpaceNews on space issues.
FRIDAY: The FAA ends public comments on a launch licensing-related issue.
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