As the Washington Post has learned, the US Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were the first to feel the painful consequences of the high-profile conflict between US leader Donald Trump and his former associate and billionaire Elon Musk. They are just now actively looking for alternatives to Musk's SpaceX company.
Points of attention
- The lack of competition catching up with SpaceX leaves the company's dominance unchallenged, further complicating the situation for NASA and the Pentagon.
- Pentagon officials have initiated talks with other commercial space companies like Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, and Blue Origin to assess alternatives for government missions.
There is a commotion at the Pentagon and NASA
The NASA team was hit by a new wave of panic after Musk threatened to stop flights of the Dragon spacecraft.
What is important to understand is that in the event of such a development, the space agency will be left without the ability to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.
The US Department of Defense is also alarmed by the billionaire's statements, as the agency relies heavily on SpaceX to launch its most important satellites.
The US government makes no secret of its dependence on SpaceX for important tasks, including secret missions.
The US also cannot ignore the fact that SpaceX's competitors are not catching up with the company, leaving its dominance virtually unchallenged.
A NASA official said it was initially "interesting" to watch the social media spat between Trump and Musk on Thursday. But when Musk called for Dragon to be retired, "it got really scary."
The Pentagon has also already realized the catastrophic nature of its situation.
According to media insiders at the department, the officers "looked at each other and said, 'Oh, this isn't funny anymore. We realized this isn't a TV show. This is a real problem.'"
Officials have contacted at least three commercial space companies — Rocket Lab, Stoke Space and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin — about the status of their rockets and when they might be available for government missions.
