Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, on Thursday said his company SpaceX would begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft after he engaged in an extraordinary public fallout with Donald Trump who had threatened to cancel government contracts with Musk’s businesses.
“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk posted on the social media platform X, which he owns.
A few minutes earlier Trump had posted on Truth Social – the media platform that he owns – that he might cancel huge lucrative contracts with Musk’s businesses, which include the SpaceX company that is building a fleet of rockets.
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” Trump said.
Nasa relies on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Since 2008, SpaceX has received more than $20bn in government contracts, largely from Nasa and the Department of Defense.
In March, two Nasa astronauts returned to Earth in a Dragon capsule after being stranded on the ISS for nearly nine months, after their Boeing Starliner capsule faced technical issues and returned to Earth without them.
The next SpaceX Dragon launch is scheduled to take place on 10 June. The Dragon is expected to carry four people to and from the ISS on Axiom Mission 4.
Nasa press secretary Bethany Stevens, in a statement on X after Musk’s announcement, said the agency “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,” she added.
Musk’s announcement came amid an escalating dispute with Trump that began after he denounced the president’s tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”.
Musk later accused Trump of “ingratitude” for the millions he spent to get him elected. Trump, in turn, said he was “very disappointed” in Musk.
The president wrote earlier on Thursday that Musk was “wearing thin” and that the tech billionaire “went crazy” after he was asked to depart the White House last week as head of Trump’s “department of government efficiency” .
