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‘Biggest crisis ever': What happens if Trump cancels billions of dollars of SpaceX contracts with NASA
An expert said the feud between US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk could potentially plunge US space programmes into the "biggest crisis ever." The statement came after Trump threatened to terminate government contracts with Musk's companies after the duo's unlikely political marriage exploded in a fiery public divorce on June 5, 2025. Trump and Musk's public relationship turned sour after Musk launched a barrage of criticism on Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." Taking the threat seriously, Musk posted on X, saying: "In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately." However, Musk appeared to reverse course hours later. Responding to a follower on X who urged him and Trump to "cool off and take a step back for a couple of days," Musk wrote: "Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon." Trump's warning has put around $22 billion of SpaceX's government contracts at risk, Reuters reported. Moreover, multiple US space programs could face dramatic changes in the fallout from Elon Musk and Trump's explosive feud over the "big, beautiful" spending bill. In the wake of Trump's threats, Casey Dreier, chief of space policy for the Pasadena-based Planetary Society, told BBC News that the potential cuts represent "the biggest crisis ever to face the US space programme". If the president prioritised political retaliation and canceled billions of dollars of SpaceX contracts with NASA and the Pentagon, it could slow US space progress, Reuters reported. Elon Musk's SpaceX and Dragon spacecraft have been part of the key American mission to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA uses SpaceX's Dragon for its Commercial Crew Program — taking astronauts to and from the ISS. This means that the cancellation of SpaceX's government contracts and the decommissioning of Dragon would impact the US's ability to launch astronauts to space from American soil. Under a roughly $5 billion contract, the Dragon capsule has been NASA's only US vessel capable of carrying astronauts to and from the ISS, making Musk's company a critical element of the US space program. NASA uses Russia's Soyuz spacecraft as a secondary ride for its astronauts to the ISS. Boeing's Starliner is an option, but the spacecraft has not been certified yet to fly operational astronaut missions and is still several months away from launching again. Some of SpaceX's more important government contracts include NASA's Commercial Crew Program and cargo resupply services for the ISS and the space station's deorbit vehicle. Currently, there's one Crew Dragon docked at the ISS. It's in the middle of SpaceX's Crew-10 astronaut mission for NASA. Axiom Space is just days away from launching its fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS aboard a Dragon spacecraft. Founded in 2002, SpaceX has won $15 billion of contracts from NASA for the company's Falcon 9 rockets and development of SpaceX's Starship, a multipurpose rocket system tapped to land NASA astronauts on the moon this decade. According to NASA has picked SpaceX's next-gen Starship spacecraft to be the first crewed lunar lander for its Artemis moon program. If all goes as planned, Starship will put NASA astronauts on the moon for the first time in 2027, on the Artemis 3 mission. "The cessation of these contracts — alongside the nearly 25% cut to NASA's overall budget and roughly 50% cut to its science programs that the White House has proposed for 2026 — could mark the end of NASA as we currently know it," the report added. Notably, under Trump in recent months, the US space industry and NASA's workforce of 18,000 have been whipsawed by looming layoffs and proposed budget cuts that would cancel dozens of science programs. Besides, Musk's quest to send humans to Mars has been a critical element of Trump's space agenda. The effort has threatened to take resources away from NASA's flagship effort to send humans back to the moon. However, it's unclear what a Dragon decommissioning would mean for SpaceX's other private spaceflight endeavors. NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens told in an emailed response, "NASA will continue to execute upon the President's vision for the future of space. We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the President's objectives in space are met." Meanwhile, former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver was quoted by Reuters as saying canceling SpaceX's contracts would probably not be legal.' But she also added, 'A rogue CEO threatening to decommission spacecraft, putting astronauts' lives at risk, is untenable.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Career at NASA helping with launches, spaceflight voted in survey as 'coolest' in Florida
3 ... 2 ... 1 ... liftoff! A career at NASA helping to execute both crewed and uncrewed rocket launches from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida was recently voted as the "coolest" job in all of the state. That's according to a study conducted by which surveyed 3,002 job seekers asking them to name the coolest positions in every state in the U.S. "The results paint a vivid picture of ambition, adventure, and some seriously cool roles," according to a statement from the company, a platform that offers a range of job search and career advancement tools, including a resume-builder. Here's what to know about the role of a mission engineer, selected as the "coolest" job in Florida. Mission engineers can earn six-figure salaries overseeing rocket liftoffs at Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, where a constant cadence of launches keeps NASA busy every week, according to The career services platform described the job in its survey as "high-pressure work where precision matters-and one wrong call could scrub the countdown" for launches viewed around the world. "For engineers drawn to adrenaline, spaceflight, and real-time impact, this Florida gig offers front-row seats to history with fire and thunder," said. Turns out, mission engineer is not a specific title, but a descriptor that can apply to many different positions at Kennedy Space Center, a NASA spokeswoman said in an email to the USA TODAY Network. NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida employs about 2,100 federal civil servants, about 120 of whom are 'operations engineers," the agency said. Mission operators are responsible for anything from developing and planning spaceflight operations, to training astronauts selected for a crew. Those who may be considered mission engineers have more official titles like launch director – responsible, in part, for carrying out launch countdowns – or landing and recovering director, a position tasked with retrieving astronauts and their vehicles when they land back on Earth. "This career field encompasses a range of specialized engineers who enable successful launch and other operations for Earth's premier spaceport," according to a statement. It's not only NASA whose spacecraft launch from Cape Canaveral, but also private vehicles developed by SpaceX, Elon Musk's commercial spaceflight company. In April 2025, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' "Amazon rocket launch" also took flight at Kennedy Space Center, contracting with United Launch Alliance to deliver the first 27 of more than 3,200 planned internet satellites into low-Earth orbit for its Project Kuiper mission. The U.S. space agency also contracts with SpaceX for its series of so-called Crew missions, which regularly sends astronauts to the International Space Station to conduct about six-months of science research at a time. The missions under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which use a SpaceX Dragon capsule atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launch from NASA's historic Launch Complex 39A. NASA employees with "operations engineer" in their job description are involved with planning and executing the Crew missions, as well as regular resupply missions to the space station. Operations engineers also play myriad roles in commencing and overseeing uncrewed scientific missions, such as the Europa Clipper that launched in October 2024 bound for a Jupiter moon. Coming up, they'll be crucial for planning the future human missions around and to the moon under the agency's Artemis lunar program, which will get off the ground in Florida. As the landing and recovering director for the Artemis II mission planned for 2026, Lili Villarreal is among NASA's employees who could be considered a missions operations engineer. Named to the position in 2023, Villarreal joined NASA in 2007 after beginning her career as a Boeing contractor. For the upcoming lunar mission, she'll lead a team that will recover four astronauts set to embark on a 10-day trip circumnavigating – but not landing on – the moon when they splashdown back on Earth in the Orion capsule. "I really wanted it because it's an exciting and rewarding job, but it also comes with significant responsibility," Villarreal said in a statement to the USA TODAY Network. "As the recovery director, you're not just responsible for the safety of the crew, you're also responsible for the safety of everybody who helps recover the crew." Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on Florida Today: What's the 'coolest' job in Florida? Survey finds it's this NASA job
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronauts Would Fly Boeing Starliner Again After Nine-Month Ordeal In Orbit
After spending nine months stuck on the International Space Station, the last thing I would consider doing is flying the same spacecraft that left me stranded there, but I'm not an astronaut. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stated that they would be happy to fly the Boeing Starliner again during a post-flight press conference on Monday. It's not an empty compliment, as NASA is open to scheduling another Starliner flight before the end of the year. Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth last month on NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission. The duo launched to the ISS on Starliner in July last year for an 8-day test flight. Once helium leaks and thruster issues emerged en route to the station, the mission stretched for months as engineers attempted to resolve the problems. The pair didn't blame anyone for how the ordeal played out but praised the positive aspects of Starliner. Notably, the spacecraft shares the traditional design philosophy of Boeing's planes, like how the pilots should ultimately be in control. Starliner featured a manual override to the spacecraft's autonomous flight capabilities. According to Space Police Online, Wilmore said: "I jokingly said a couple of times before we launched that I can literally do a barrel roll over the top of the space station. ... If we can figure out a couple of very important primary issues with the thrusters and the helium system, Starliner is ready to go." Read more: John Oliver Explains How All Of Boeing's Problems Can Be Traced Back To Stock Buybacks And Incompetent Leadership Wilmore and Williams are set to meet with Boeing leadership on Wednesday to discuss what happened during the test flight. Since Starliner's uncrewed return last September, NASA confirmed that 70% of the flight observations and in-flight anomalies have been closed. Despite the rapid pace in fixing issues, the problems with the thrust still persist. NASA aims to fly a certification flight later this year or in early 2026. The space agency wants to have a redundancy in capabilities and not be utterly dependent on the SpaceX Crew Dragon. Surprisingly, Boeing remains committed to fixing Starliner. NASA's Commercial Crew Program awarded Boeing a fixed-cost contract. If the aerospace giant exceeded the set budget, then it would have to cover the additional costs. The Starliner program was already over budget by $2 billion. Boeing considered ditching the final frontier altogether late last year by selling off its space division, but management decided to double down on Starliner. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX's Crew 11 to space station named: 2 from NASA, plus Russia, Japan
March 28 (UPI) -- NASA on Friday announced the four crew members of Crew-11 who will be part of Space X's next trip to the International Space Station no earlier than July from Florida. The crew will include NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, the commander, and pilot Mike Fincke, as well as two mission specialists: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. Cardman was one of two astronauts reassigned from Crew-9 after their seats were used to bring Boeing astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth on March 18 along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Wilmore and Williams were aboard the initial Boeing Starliner that launched in June 2024. Because of problems with the capsule after docking at ISS, it went back to Earth uncrewed and they were assigned to a SpaceX return flight. Crew-10 launched on March 14 with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov to relieve the Crew-9 members. The latest mission will be the 11th crew rotation with SpaceX to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The missions launch from Kennedy Space Center. "They will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions to the Moon, as well as benefit people on Earth," NASA said in a news release. The space station has been in operation since November 2000 and is scheduled to be deorbited at the end of 2030. Aside from SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, space shuttles and Russia's Soyuz took crew members to the space station. Cardman, 37, was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, and will participate in her first spaceflight, including her initial spacewalk. At the time of selection, she had begun pursuing a doctorate in geosciences at Penn State. Fincke, 58, originally was scheduled to fly aboard Boeing's Starliner-1 in March 2024. He has logged 382 days in space and nine spacewalks during ISS Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2008 and Space Transportation System 134 in 2011, which was the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour. Fincke, who became an astronaut in 1996, is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. Yui, 54, will participate in his second trip to the space station after 142 days in space. He was selected as a JAXA astronaut in 2009. Platonov, 38, will be on his first spaceflight since his selection in 2018 by Roscosmos He became a test cosmonaut in 2021.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA may require Boeing's Starliner to fly third uncrewed test
By Joey Roulette WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing's troubled Starliner capsule that left two NASA astronauts on the International Space Station last year may need to fly a third uncrewed test flight before it carries astronauts again, agency officials said as the spacecraft's first crew had to return to Earth on a SpaceX capsule this week. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who rode Boeing's crew capsule to the ISS last year, splashed down on Tuesday in SpaceX's Dragon capsule amidst a lengthy effort by Boeing to fix Starliner's faulty propulsion system, which had caused their eight-day test mission to stretch into a nine-month stay in space. The technical issues on Starliner's debut crewed mission were the latest setback - and most visible so far - in Boeing's thorny development of a spacecraft that has cost the aerospace giant more than $2 billion. Starliner would compete with the dominant Crew Dragon capsule from Elon Musk's SpaceX and provide NASA a second U.S. ride to low-Earth orbit for its astronauts. But before clinching a long-sought NASA certification for routine flights, the craft may need an extra uncrewed test mission that would be its fourth overall, after it flew two uncrewed tests in 2019 and 2022. "We're ... looking at some options for Starliner, should we need to, of flying it uncrewed," Steve Stich, chief of NASA's Commercial Crew Program that oversees Starliner development, told reporters Tuesday night. "When we look forward, what we'd like to do is that one flight, and then get into a crew rotation flight." "We'll kind of weigh all those things as we get the testing and analysis behind us," Stich said. Boeing did not return requests for comment. Stich said Starliner's crewed flight last year checked off some key testing milestones related to how astronauts command and fly the vehicle. The purpose of an extra uncrewed test, he said, would be to validate that its thrusters can perform as designed in space, an environment impossible to simulate in tests on Earth. Starliner's first crewed mission was to be its final test before it could begin routine astronaut flights for NASA, which relies on SpaceX's Crew Dragon craft. STARLINER'S COMPETITIVE FUTURE Boeing is also eyeing Starliner as a taxi to and from privately built space stations that are in early development - the kind of non-government revenue that SpaceX has brought in with fully private Dragon missions. But Starliner's future was thrown into uncertainty when it suffered five thruster failures during its flight to the ISS last year, as well as leaks of helium that is used to pressurize the thrusters. NASA made Starliner return to Earth without its crew in September, deeming it too risky for astronauts to ride. A NASA safety advisory panel in January said the agency and Boeing were making "significant progress" in their post-flight technical investigations but that the propulsion system issues remain unresolved. Stich said Boeing is planning a ground test this summer of propulsion system components aimed at validating the company's fixes. On top of Boeing's $2 billion in Starliner charges since 2016, the ceiling of the company's fixed-price $4.2 billion NASA contract for Starliner development and missions has grown by $326 million since being awarded in 2014, according to a Reuters analysis of contract data. The company has received half of that so far during development, roughly $2.2 billion. SpaceX's Crew Dragon meanwhile has flown 11 astronaut missions for NASA, including a crewed test flight in 2020. The total value of SpaceX's initial $3 billion NASA contract, also awarded in 2014 and similar to Starliner, has grown to nearly $5 billion, largely due to extra missions NASA has added amid Starliner's development delays.
