Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX will begin winding down its Dragon spacecraft operations, following threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to cancel the company’s government contracts, according to a report by AFP.
“In response to the President’s remarks about ending our federal agreements, @SpaceX will start decommissioning the Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.
The decision marks a dramatic end to a once-strong political alliance between Musk and Trump, which has recently unraveled through a series of online clashes and public criticisms.
The Dragon spacecraft — particularly the Crew Dragon capsule, launched in 2020 — is currently the only U.S. vehicle certified to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Under a \$4.9 billion NASA contract, it has been a crucial element of American crewed space missions since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.
SpaceX also operates the Cargo Dragon variant, which is used for transporting supplies to the ISS.
Responding to Musk’s announcement, NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens affirmed the agency’s alignment with the space policies of the current administration. “We remain committed to supporting the President’s goals for space exploration and will continue working closely with our industry partners,” she wrote on X.
Meanwhile, NASA has also been developing Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft for crewed missions, but the program has faced persistent delays. Its most recent test failed due to propulsion issues, forcing the spacecraft to return early without docking at the ISS. The astronauts on board were eventually brought back by a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
Crew Dragon’s certification in 2020 had ended America’s reliance on Russia’s Soyuz rockets for sending astronauts to space — a dependency that had lasted since the Space Shuttle’s retirement. Despite the current tensions, a bilateral arrangement still allows for the exchange of seats between Russian and U.S. space crews.
Beyond government missions, Crew Dragon has supported private ventures as well, including space tourism. Its latest private flight, Fram2, completed a polar orbit around Earth.
The next planned mission, Axiom-4, is scheduled for Tuesday and will carry astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary to the ISS aboard a Crew Dragon capsule.
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