Latest news with #DragonSpacecraft
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump cool their heated exchange
Hours after a social media feud erupted between Elon Musk and President Trump, the fallout is still being felt. For days leading up to the exchange, Musk who recently left the White House, criticized the Presidents so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill.' At one point, Musk referred to it as an abomination. Trump countered with a threat to save money by terminating Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts. After which, Musk said SpaceX would begin decommissioning its Dragon Spacecraft immediately. He would later walk that one back. Today, Dr. Don Platt, an Associate Professor of Space Systems at Florida Tech, told us, 'I don't think anyone knows really what the next hour could bring, even, but I think that when we're talking about things that are so critical as national security, space, billions of dollars, overall, I think that I suppose we could say cooler heads will prevail.' Eyewitness News learned that 'if' SpaceX decided to immediately decommission the Dragon Spacecraft, the company could find itself in default of its NASA contract, and could potentially be sued for unperformed work and the cost of seeking alternate transportation. But there aren't too many other options. '10, 15 years ago, SpaceX was suing because they were not being given a chance to bid on the things that ULA had or that DOD was putting out. And then they got that claiming, oh, it was a monopoly. Well, now the Boeing Starliner is probably never going to fly again. So that is not an option. You could probably get rides in a Soyuz. There probably will be a couple more astronauts going up, but that is, depending on Russia for anything right now, is not a smart thing to be doing, ' said NASA Watch Founder Keith Cowing. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Why Trump can't just quit Musk
A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. A few years ago, when Elon Musk was turning heel to people worried about climate change, joining forces with Republicans and breaking up with Democrats, I wrote about how the government couldn't just quit him. It's still true now that Musk is breaking up with President Donald Trump, on whose candidacy Musk spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 million. Musk got a literal golden key to the White House and the opportunity to take a chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy from Trump in exchange for the friendship that campaign coin bought him. The Trump-Musk bromance, which burned hot during the campaign and for the first few months of Trump's second term in the White House, has now experienced what SpaceX might euphemistically call a 'rapid unscheduled disassembly.' Even if Trump all but demands that key back and the relationship can't be put back together again, a permanent divorce would necessarily be messy and drawn out. At one point as they were lobbing shots at each other on their respective social media platforms, Trump suggested canceling Musk's government contracts. Musk suggested not letting NASA use his SpaceX's Dragon Spacecraft. Both have retreated from those suggestions. As I wrote back in 2023: 'NASA needs his rockets. The Pentagon needs his satellites. The government needs for electric vehicles to access his network of chargers. Officials need his social media platform — Twitter, now called X — to communicate with people.' It's all still true, although Trump has no interest in electric vehicles, and a standoff over whether a massive tax bill should continue to incentivize Americans to buy electric vehicles may have contributed to their beef. There are still a growing number of Americans buying electric vehicles, and Tesla's charging network is a part of that infrastructure. If anything, the intervening years have made the government even more dependent on Musk and particularly SpaceX, which not only provides rockets to NASA, but also has the Starlink internet system, which is key to the Pentagon and has been floated as an option to improve coverage for rural America. SpaceX has gotten more than $20 billion in contracts from NASA and the Pentagon, according to CNN's Chris Isidore. Isidore also explains Trump can't just go to another rocket company. Replacing SpaceX on those contracts, however, is not realistic. That's because there is no other company available to replace it. For example, Boeing, the only other company able transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), had problems on its only crewed flight last year. That required its Starliner spacecraft to return to Earth without two astronauts, who were stranded at the ISS for nine months instead of the planned trip of a handful of days. CNN's Jackie Wattles, who covers space, told me the government's reliance on SpaceX goes much further. 'It's hard to understate how crucial SpaceX's capabilities are for civil and military space endeavors,' Wattles said. 'NASA not only relies solely on SpaceX to get astronauts to and from the International Space Station, the space agency awarded SpaceX nearly $1 billion last year to develop a way to safely drag the ISS out of orbit when it's decommissioned — a move expected to happen in the early 2030s if not sooner.' She ticked off a number of ways in which the US relies on SpaceX: If the US does end up wanting to go to Mars, SpaceX's Starship, which is still in development, is the only vehicle designed for the purpose. The US is paying SpaceX $4 billion for moon landings. It's relying on SpaceX to dispose of the International Space Station in the future. SpaceX carries more payload for the military than any other company. It launches most US spy satellites, and the Pentagon plans to count on Starlink for connectivity. Plus, Starlink is now working on updating the technology the Federal Aviation Administration uses to manage US airspace, something that raised questions about conflicts of interest when it was announced, but now seems like one more thing binding the government to Musk. Musk's companies are at the mercy of federal regulators, as we explored with a look at the ethical minefield created by Musk's involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency. His Neuralink, which aims to implant chips in the brains of humans, will have to deal with the Food and Drug Administration. SpaceX has to deal with the FAA and other agencies. X, formerly Twitter, features in the oversight of the Federal Communications Commission. Tesla has been investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Trump's administration has shown no reluctance to use the cogs of government to go after perceived enemies. Just ask Harvard. But if Trump were to use government to attack Musk, it would be like something out of Vladimir Putin's playbook in Russia, where oligarchs rise and fall based on whether they are in favor with the government. 'Trump can go after (Musk's companies), but then it'll be pretty explicit that's what he's doing,' said the tech journalist Kara Swisher, appearing on CNN's 'The Situation Room' Friday. 'Then he'll look exactly like what people accuse him of, which is an autocrat,' Swisher said. It would hurt the country if Trump did target Musk, she said. In additoin to Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink, she pointed to the importance of Musk's forays into AI. 'We really do need cogent, important guidance on AI as it goes forward,' Swisher said.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Steve Bannon says Trump should ‘deport Musk immediately' and take control of SpaceX
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon has called for Elon Musk 's deportation, referring to him as an "illegal alien" and urging President Trump to seize SpaceX. Bannon made these remarks on his War Room podcast, reacting to Musk's threat to decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft after Trump considered canceling government subsidies to Musk's companies. Bannon suggested Trump invoke the Defense Production Act to seize SpaceX, claiming Musk is in the country illegally despite becoming a U.S. citizen in 2002. Speaking with the New York Times, Bannon doubled down on his deportation call and urged the Trump administration to investigate Musk's immigration status. Musk, who previously vowed to root out more than $1 trillion in federal waste, was only able to cut $170 billion despite over 270,000 people losing their jobs due to sweeping layoffs.
Independent Singapore
3 days ago
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Trump vs. Musk: Tax fight escalates, U.S. space program caught in crossfire
WASHINGTON: The future of America's space endeavours was thrown into chaos on Thursday as a fierce discord between Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump put US$22 billion in government deals and agreements with SpaceX in jeopardy. According to the latest Reuters report, the crux of the feud arose from political enmity, cutting remarks, derisive statements, and threats that could subvert vital space initiatives and international collaboration onboard the International Space Station (ISS). A feud ignited over tax policy The impasse began last week when Musk carped on Trump's projected tax-cut and spending regulation, intensifying Thursday when Trump flew off the handle from the Oval Office. Musk retaliated on X (formerly Twitter), provoking the former president to hint at the termination of government transactions with Musk's corporations. Taking the threat with gravity, Musk overtly specified that he would begin 'decommissioning' the Dragon spacecraft—NASA's prime crew conveyance to the ISS. The statement sent blast waves through Washington and in the aerospace circles, even though Musk later seemed to walk back the announcement, calling it 'good advice' to reduce the tensions. Nonetheless, the fact that one of NASA's most reliable allies considered detaining its vital spaceship, even provisionally, exposed a delicate connection between politics and space travel. Critical missions hang in the balance SpaceX holds approximately a US$5 billion deal for its Dragon capsule, the only American-made craft presently equipped and able to transport space pilots to and from the ISS. Losing Dragon would leave NASA reliant on Russia's Soyuz craft, a consequence that could overturn more than ten years of U.S. initiatives to reclaim autonomy in crewed space travel. Bethany Stevens, press secretary for NASA, did not comment specifically on the quarrel but guaranteed that the agency would 'continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the president's objectives in space are met.' Beyond Dragon, SpaceX's influence is firmly established—the corporation builds rockets for NASA's lunar Starship undertakings, introduces national security satellites for the Pentagon, and is working on a colossal spy satellite collection hub for U.S. intelligence. Fallout hits NASA and Musk's political clout The political outcomes were instantaneous. Billionaire astronaut and Musk friend and supporter Jared Isaacman, who had been the Trump administration's contender to lead NASA, was snappishly thrown down over the weekend. Trump later stated that Isaacman was 'totally Democrat,' alluding to his varied political contributions. The Isaacman rebuff could be just the start. Trump has earlier overturned procurement procedures and reduced space science funds. His government's projected cuts to the Artemis moon missions indicate a standoff that could leave Musk's Martian aspirations up in the air.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Guardian
Elon Musk signals he may back down in public row with Donald Trump
Elon Musk has suggested he may de-escalate his public row with Donald Trump after their spectacular falling out. The Tesla chief executive signalled he might back down on a pledge to decommission the Dragon spacecraft – made by his SpaceX business – in an exchange on his X social media platform. He also responded positively to a call from fellow multibillionaire Bill Ackman to 'make peace' with the US president. Politico also reported overnight that the White House has scheduled a call with Musk on Friday to broker a peace deal after both men traded verbal blows on Thursday. The rolling spat – which played out over social media and in a Trump White House appearance – included the president saying he was 'very disappointed in Elon' over Musk's criticism of his tax and spending bill. Musk also said the president's trade policies would cause a recession and raised Trump's connections to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk had responded to a Trump threat to cancel his US government contracts on Thursday with a post on X stating he would retire his Dragon spacecraft, which is used by Nasa. However, responding to an X user's post urging both sides to 'cool off', Musk wrote: 'Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon.' Musk also appeared to proffer an olive branch in a reply to a post from the hedge fund owner Ackman, who called on Trump and Musk to 'make peace for the benefit of our great country'. Musk replied: 'You're not wrong.' Politico also reported a potential peace call between Musk and the White House, claiming Trump's aides had worked to persuade the president to tone down his public criticism of the Tesla owner before arranging the phone conversation for Friday. After a brief interview with Trump about Thursday's Musk implosion, Politico reported that the president displayed 'an air of nonchalance' about the spat. 'Oh it's OK' Trump said, when asked about the dispute. 'It's going very well, never done better.' Referring to his favourability ratings, Trump added: 'The numbers are through the roof, the highest polls I've ever had and I have to go.' Politico reported that Trump's aides had urged the president to focus on getting his tax and spending bill through the Senate instead of clashing with Musk, with one of his Truth Social posts reflecting a less confrontational tone. 'I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,' he wrote on his Truth Social platform, before adding that the tax cut legislation was one of the 'Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress'.
