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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's Threat to Kill SpaceX Presents One Hidden Safety Concern
Because of a political fallout, tech mogul and SpaceX owner Elon Musk has now attracted the verbal ire of President Trump. While sparring over social media, the President suggested that he could and would cancel Musk's government contracts relative to SpaceX. Briefly, this led Musk to claim that SpaceX would "decommission" the crucial Dragon spacecraft, but later reversed his position, saying, "Ok, we won't decommission Dragon." This is the very same type of vessel which recently led to the rescue of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams who were stranded on the International Space Station for much longer than originally planned. And it's the fate of the International Space Station that is actually the number one reason why an utterly defunded SpaceX might be a very dangerous thing. In 2024, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract valued at $843 million. The purpose? To deorbit the International Space Station by the end of the decade. Basically, the ISS is not designed to stay in orbit forever, and before it is replaced by something more permanent, it will have to be safely moved to a low Earth orbit. This means that SpaceX is currently tasked by the U.S. government to build the United States Deorbit Vehicle (USDV). "Selecting a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations," Ken Bowersox said in a NASA statement last a hypothetical world in which Trump decides to rescind all government contracts for SpaceX, that would presumably include killing the all-important job of SpaceX building the USDV. And if SpaceX doesn't build the USDV, who will help mitigate the very real fallout of a large space station? Again, hypothetically, there are other organizations that have spacecraft, but as the stranding of Wilmore and Williams recently demonstrated, SpaceX has proven to be the most reliable way for the U.S. to get people in and out of space. In fact, the whole reason that Wilmore and Williams were stranded was because the Boeing Starliner — a rival aerospace venture to SpaceX — was unable to complete a return trip because of safety concerns. Concurrent with all of this, Blue Origin's New Glenn craft isn't even close to being ready. Notably, Blue Origin's other craft, the New Shepard, isn't designed to go far enough into space to be useful to the ISS. One might wonder if SpaceX really needs the money. And it's possible the company doesn't. As Musk pointed out on June 3, the entirety of what NASA pays to SpaceX ($1.1 billion) is dwarfed by SpaceX's current revenue ($15.5 billion). Basically, SpaceX's Starlink services are making plenty of money for the company, so if Trump rescinded even just that contract valued at roughly $800 million, it wouldn't come close to putting SpaceX out of business. Legally, Trump might be able to try and sever ties between SpaceX and the U.S. government, specifically, NASA. But practically speaking, this seems very unlikely long-term. Right now, SpaceX is the best bet for creating a safe deorbit for the ISS. And, if any more astronauts get stranded — from any country — it seems like Musk's Dragons are still the most reliable space Threat to Kill SpaceX Presents One Hidden Safety Concern first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 6, 2025
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
International Space Station enters riskiest period, NASA ‘deeply concerned' over safety
The ailing state of the International Space Station (ISS) serves as a sad indicator of shifting priorities amid reports that Trump's administration is planning to slash NASA funding by 20 percent. For years, NASA has emphasized budgetary and aging hardware concerns regarding the ISS. Now, during a public meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) on April 17, NASA officials said they were "deeply concerned" about the diminishing safety of the orbital station. The panel cited long-standing issues – cracks and air leaks – as well as funding shortfalls. They called for more funding to facilitate the end of the ISS's operations and avert a potentially catastrophic unplanned deorbit. During the ASAP meeting, members of the NASA safety panel emphasized the growing risks facing ISS operations. Cracks aboard the space station have been a long-running concern. Over the years, air leaks have also hindered operations – the source of one of those leaks was pinpointed thanks to floating tea leaves. At the time of writing, NASA aims to deorbit the ISS by 2030. The space agency has contracted SpaceX to develop US Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) to safely remove the ISS from orbit within that timeframe. However, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk may throw a spanner in the works. He recently recommended NASA deorbit the station sooner. Following a public spat with a former ISS commander, he claimed the station had "served its purpose". Conversely, when it comes to Trump's NASA budget cuts, Musk recently stated he can't get involved because of a conflict of interest. While NASA's safety panel decry a lack of funding, their new report may help Musk get his way. "The ISS has entered the riskiest period of its existence," Rich Williams, a member of the panel, said, adding that there were "increasing risks" to the orbital outpost. The panel honed in on the increased risk caused by long-standing problems. These include leaks in a vestibule of the station's Zvezda module, called PrK. Experts from the US and Russia have investigated those leaks for years, without pinpointing the source. According to Williams, "the panel has considered this one of our highest concerns." He added that NASA and Roscosmos officials will meet later this month in Moscow to discuss the ongoing investigation, as well as update efforts to mitigate the risks. ISS managers are taking precautions in the meantime. They have limited repressurizations of the PrK vestibule, which links a docking port to the station. The safety panel also discussed the potential for an emergency deorbit, before SpaceX's USDV is deployed. An uncontrolled deorbit could be catastrophic, with the space station raining down over populated areas. "If there is a deorbit of the ISS before the USDV is delivered, the risk to the public from ISS breakup debris will increase by orders of magnitude," Williams warned. The panel emphasized the need for a strong budget as the ISS comes to the end of its operational life. This is especially important, given the fact that recent reports suggest Trump aims to drastically cut NASA funding. "Overarching all of these risks is a large ISS budget shortfall," Williams said. "All of these risks are actually a derivative of this budget shortfall and collectively contribute to potential compromise of the low Earth orbit transition plan." According to a SpaceNews report, NASA spent $993 million on ISS operations and maintenance last year and $1.63 billion on crew and cargo transportation. The panel warned that the ISS could face budget difficulties associated with the costs of building SpaceX's USDV. "The Panel has grave concerns that if the necessary funds for both the USDV and the supporting launch infrastructure (over $1B in total) comes solely from the existing ISS budget, this will unduly strain NASA's ability to safely perform normal and contingency ISS on-orbit operations," they said. "As programs near final phases, it is tempting to assume less resources will need to be available," Williams explained. "For the ISS, it is critical to maintain adequate budget and resources until the vehicle is safely reentered." "The panel appreciates the demonstrated operational excellence of the ISS program, but remains deeply concerned about the increasing and cascading risk attending the program over the next several years," he stated.
