The online feud between billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk and President Donald Trump has been jettisoned into outer space.
Social media users worried Thursday that the president’s suggestion of terminating his former special federal employee’s government subsidies and contracts could have potential implications for the operation of the International Space Station. As it turns out, they were right.
“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” the Tesla co-founder said, responding to Trump’s suggestion.
It came as the high profile bromance between two of the world’s most powerful men came to an explosive end, with the president claiming the world’s richest man had gone “CRAZY” and Musk responding to a post about the end and safe de-orbiting of the ISS, writing “make my day…”
Musk’s Dragon spacecraft, which first launched in 2012, has been used to get astronauts to and from the space station for years. In March, the pair of NASA astronauts who had been in space since last summer used it to return home.
Musk initially replied to a tweet from Ars Technica’s Senior Space Editor Eric Berger, who had written that terminating the contracts would “both end the International Space Station and simultaneously provide no way to safely deorbit it.”
“Is he really holding astronauts hostage??? 😳” astrophysicist Dr. Meredith Wills added on BlueSky in response to Musk’s announcement.
“RIP international space station,” said user @seggl.
Later on Thursday, Musk indicated he might change his mind in his response to a tweet that read: “This is a shame this back and forth. You are both better than this. Cool off and take a step back for a couple days.”
Musk replied: “Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.” It wasn’t immediately clear whether he was being serious or not.
SpaceX is one of the biggest federal contractors. Since 2008, SpaceX has received more than $20 billion in contracts from NASA, the Air Force and other agencies, according to CNBC.
“NASA will continue to execute upon the President’s vision for the future of space,” a spokesperson told The Independent. “We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the President’s objectives in space are met.”
It’s unclear if any of this will actually happen, but the spat comes at a fraught moment for the rudderless agency. Trump’s pick for future administrator, who had ties to Musk, was just cast out. Last week, NASA released its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026, slashing funds for climate satellites, astronomy and other science, and focusing on spaceflight and missions to the moon and Mars.
The space station, which first launched in 1998, is expected to be deorbited in 2030 and “at the end of [its] useful life.” Last year, NASA gave that responsibility to SpaceX, selecting them to deliver and develop the vehicle that will provide the capability to deorbit the laboratory.
Musk, however, has said he wants to take it down sooner, rather than later. In February, he said it had “served its purpose” and recommended it come down in two years. Instead, his focus has largely been trained on the red planet and making humans a multi-planetary civilization.
“Progress is measured by the timeline to establishing a self-sustaining civilization on Mars,” Musk said.
SpaceX is a large part of future of NASA’s prioritized moon-to-Mars missions. The company was selected to provide the human landing system that will transport astronauts to the surface of the moon and back. Musk has been testing the Starship with mixed success. Trump himself was at a test flight with Musk in November. A timeline for Artemis II — the first crewed mission on the Space Launch System — and the Orion spacecraft, remains April 2026, according to the agency’s website.
SpaceX also helped fill a critical hole for NASA after a Northrop Grumman spacecraft used to bring food, fuel, and supplies to the space station was damaged.
A request for comment from SpaceX was not immediately returned.
