{"id":162456,"date":"2025-06-06T08:19:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T08:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/162456\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T08:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T08:19:09","slug":"trump-vs-musk-public-feud-threatens-22-billion-in-spacex-deals-competitors-gain-ground-as-rift-escalates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/162456\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump vs Musk: Public feud threatens $22 billion in SpaceX deals, competitors gain ground as rift escalates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/121667058.jpg\" alt=\"Trump vs Musk: Public feud threatens $22 billion in SpaceX deals, competitors gain ground as rift escalates\" title=\"SpaceX, left, and Elon Musk (Image credits: X @SpaceX)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>SpaceX, left, and Elon Musk (Image credits: X @SpaceX) About $22 billion in government contracts held by <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/spacex\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SpaceX<\/a> are now in jeopardy, with several US space programs potentially facing major disruptions following a heated public feud between the space company founder <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/elon-musk\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elon Musk<\/a> and US President <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/donald-trump\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> on Thursday. Trump claimed that ending Musk\u2019s federal subsidies would save \u201cbillions and billions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elon To Cripple US Space Program Amid Tiff With Trump? &#8216;Will Decommission America\u2019s Only\u2026\u2019 | Watch<\/p>\n<p>In response, Musk threatened to begin \u201cdecommissioning\u201d SpaceX\u2019s Dragon spacecraft, a critical vehicle used by <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/nasa\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nasa<\/a> for transporting astronauts. However, just hours later, Musk appeared to backtrack. After a follower on X urged both men to &#8220;cool off and take a step back for a couple of days,&#8221; Musk replied, \u201cGood advice. Ok, we won\u2019t decommission Dragon.\u201dMusk\u2019s SpaceX is a cornerstone of America\u2019s space infrastructure, from satellite launches to crewed spaceflights. But tensions boiled over after Trump criticized Musk\u2019s favored spending policies and withdrew support for Jared Isaacman, the billionaire private astronaut once expected to lead the US space agency, claiming he was \u201ctotally Democrat.\u201dTrump is reportedly considering retired Air Force Lt Gen Steven Kwast, an advocate for space-based defense and competition with China, to lead the US space agency. His nomination would signal a shift away from Musk-style innovation toward a more national security-focused approach.The leadership vacuum comes amid deep proposed cuts to US space programs under Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/business\/budget\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">budget<\/a> plan, which would cancel dozens of science initiatives and halt Artemis moon missions after the third launch. Musk\u2019s Mars-focused ambitions, previously central to Trump\u2019s space agenda, now appear at odds with shifting political priorities.Despite White House plans to scale back, the senate commerce Committee on Thursday released a version of the budget bill that restores funding for Artemis missions four and five and provides at least $1 billion annually for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket through 2029. Whether Trump accepts or fights these provisions will reveal how much sway Musk still holds.SpaceX dominance under threatSpaceX has secured roughly $15 billion in government contracts, including major Nasa deals for the Falcon 9 and Starship launch systems and Pentagon contracts for national security satellite missions. The company is also building a secretive surveillance satellite network for a US intelligence agency and developing a military offshoot of Starlink known as Starshield.Shares of EchoStar and AST SpaceMobile, two rivals to SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellite network, jumped 16 per cent and 8 per cent respectively this week, reflecting investor bets that Musk\u2019s fallout with Trump could open the door to alternatives.Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/jeff-bezos\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeff Bezos<\/a>&#8216; Blue Origin are all developing systems that could one day replace some of SpaceX\u2019s functions. Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper, meanwhile, is emerging as a potential Starlink rival, with enough satellites expected in orbit by the end of the year to begin offering services, including to the US government.Former Nasa deputy administrator Lori Garver warned that while canceling SpaceX\u2019s contracts would likely be illegal, the broader situation is troubling. \u201cA rogue CEO threatening to decommission spacecraft, putting astronauts\u2019 lives at risk, is untenable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>US: &#8216;Ms Law Prof., First Learn&#8230;&#8217;: Seething Hawley Wrecks \u2018Anti-Trump\u2019 Kate Shaw In Senate | Watch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SpaceX, left, and Elon Musk (Image credits: X @SpaceX) About $22 billion in government contracts held by SpaceX&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[1194,32,295,12767,874,68397,70,413,1603,68396,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-162456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-budget","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-elon-musk","11":"tag-jeff-bezos","12":"tag-nasa","13":"tag-satellite-launch","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-space","16":"tag-spacex","17":"tag-trump-musk-feud","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114635444348839179","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}