As Elon Musk and President Donald Trump traded jabs on their rival social media platforms, their feud has escalated beyond a public spat, threatening billions of dollars in federal contracts and throwing the future of America’s space program into question.
With Trump threatening to sever government ties with Musk’s businesses, most notably SpaceX, Newsweek looked at the web of contracts that bind the billionaire’s ventures to the U.S. government.
Newsweek has reached out to SpaceX for comment via email on Friday.
Why It Matters
NASA and SpaceX have built one of the most significant public-private partnerships in modern space exploration. Since 2015, SpaceX has received more than $13 billion in NASA contracts, making it one of the agency’s largest private partners.
SpaceX is deeply integrated into U.S. national security and the space programs, with Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Aerospace Security Project, telling Newsweek: “SpaceX is not like the appendix but a vital organ in everything the United States is doing in space.”
Musk,the SpaceX CEO and former Trump ally headingthe Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), clashed publicly with the president on Thursday in a heated exchange on social media. The dispute began over Musk’s criticism of a Trump-backed spending bill and escalated into threats over federal contracts and allegations involving Trump’s ties to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
What To Know
On Thursday, the president threatened termination of Musk’s various contracts, writing in a Truth Social post: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”
NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens told Newsweek in an emailed statement on Friday: “NASA 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.”
Space experts largely agree that Musk essentially has a “monopoly” on the industry, responsible for key people movement and launching “more than 90 percent of the U.S. satellites into space,” Darrell West, a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation in the governance studies program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told Newsweek.
Musk also runs Starlink, a satellite subsidiary of SpaceX, that provides internet coverage to more than 100 countries, among other services.
The billionaire’s federal contracts range in research development, space exploration, utility and defense, particularly as space becomes more and more militarized.
NASA Artemis
In 2021, SpaceX was awarded the contract to help get American astronauts to the moon in development of the first commercial human lander. The initial contract was awarded at $2.89 billion, though various modifications have greatly increase that number, such as an additional $1.15 billion in 2022. In the 2021 press release, NASA said the program would help land the first woman and person of color on the moon.
NASA Commercial Crew Transportation
Awarded in 2014, SpaceX was selected to provide crew launch services to the International Space Station (ISS) through the development of Crew Dragon and its operational missions. The Crew Dragon is a capsule that transports astronauts to and from the ISS. Currently, NASA has no way to independently get to and from the ISS and would have to rely on the Russians for the transport.
As a result of this and other measures, Scott Hubbard, former director of NASA’s Ames Research Center, the first Mars program director and the founder of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute, told Newsweek that he doesn’t believe Trump’s threats will be realized, saying: “There is no alternative to the F9-Dragon combination at present.”
Space X was awarded $2.6 billion for the project but has also received several multimillion-dollar contracts in relation to the larger project of ISS operations. The contract is set to expire when the ISS retires. It is planned to remain operation through 2030.
At one point on Thursday, Musk threatened to decommission the Dragon spacecraft, a statement he has since retracted.
NASA Commercial Resupply Services 2
In 2016, SpaceX received a NASA award to ensure cargo delivery to the ISS from 2019 to 2024. It launched its first mission in 2020, then conducted regular missions between 2021 and 2023.
In 2022, NASA announced six more SpaceX missions, and in 2024 revealed plans to extend the contract through to the ISS’ end in 2030.
It’s not exactly clear how much SpaceX was awarded for the missions, but in total, including missions with three providers, NASA awarded $14 billion combined.
NASA ISS Deorbit Vehicle
In June 2024, SpaceX was awarded a contract of up to $843 million to develop a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle to safely deorbit the ISS in 2030. NASA has pledged that the deorbit will be “in a controlled manner” that will “ensure avoidance of risk to populated areas.”
The contract will run through ISS’ deorbiting process in 2030.
NASA Launch Services
SpaceX has several multimillion-dollar active launch contracts under NASA’s Launch Services Program, which manages uncrewed missions. Contracts include a $255 million deal to launch NASA’s Roman Space Telescope on a Falcon Heavy in 2026, a $178 million launch contract for NASA’s Europa Clipper on Falcon Heavy, and a $256.6 million contract to launch the Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to Saturn’s moon Titan, among others.
U.S. Space Force National Security Space Launch (Phase 2)
In 2020, SpaceX was granted contracts to launch some of the Pentagon‘s high-priority satellites into space for fiscal years 2022-2027. The initial contract was valued at $316 million, with an additional estimated billions in various task orders.
The satellites allow security forces to communicate, geolocate and coordinate intelligence.
U.S. Air Force (AFRL) – Rocket Cargo Program
A $102 million contract was awarded in 2022 for SpaceX to use its resources to demonstrate technologies for point-to-point space transportation. The project involves collecting data and developing cargo designs for mass payloads, among other initiatives.
U.S. Space Force and Department of Defense Starlink Services Contracts
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Space Force have established several contracts with SpaceX for Starlink satellite services. In 2023, the Space Force awarded SpaceX about $70 million for Starlink satellite internet services that help provide military units with Starlink terminals and connectivity. Additionally, the Pentagon in mid-2023 confirmed a multimillion-dollar contract for Starlink to support operations in Ukraine, a close U.S. ally.
Tesla
Musk is also the head of Tesla, an electric vehicle company that has benefited from several government programs over the years, including federal loans from the Department of Energy and tax incentives.
What Happens Next
Several space experts told Newsweek it’s unlikely the government will cancel SpaceX’s contracts, citing the scale of the projects and the limited number of viable alternatives the government would have.
Given the volatile nature of their feud, it remains unclear whether Trump will attempt to cancel existing contracts or limit future deals, or whether Musk could pull SpaceX out of its government commitments altogether.
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