In a public disagreement with Trump, Musk said SpaceX should retire the Dragon spacecraft

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Elon Musk said that he will terminate SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft operation services to transport cargo and personnel to the International Space Station, further escalating the dispute between the billionaire and US President Trump, which has continued for several days. The Dragon spacecraft is the company's primary vehicle used to launch astronauts and cargo into orbit. The company signed a multi-billion dollar contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to regularly schedule the agency's astronauts to and from the International Space Station, which will help NASA maintain an uninterrupted presence until the end of 2030.

After Musk made this promise, Trump threatened to cancel Musk's government contract. The reason for this threat is Musk's continuous criticism of the president's tax bill on his social media platform “X”.

It's unclear exactly what Musk meant by the “decommissioned” Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX also uses the Dragon spacecraft for commercial missions, which are separate from the missions it performs for NASA. The company has carried out six private astronaut missions via the Dragon spacecraft, some of which are free flight in orbit and others to the International Space Station.

SpaceX is scheduled to launch another private astronaut mission using the Dragon spacecraft around June 10. This mission will be carried out in cooperation with Axiom Space to send four civilians to the International Space Station.

NASA spokesman Bethany Stevens said in an article on X that the agency will “continue to implement the President's vision” and work hand in hand with various industry partners. If SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft suddenly stops operating, this will put NASA in serious trouble with the space station project. The spacecraft is the only active vehicle the US can use to send astronauts to the space station, but the agency also relies on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to regularly send American astronauts to the space station. Additionally, it is one of the main options for maintaining food and supplies for the space station.

NASA may have another option, which is to use Boeing's Starliner to send astronauts to the space station. However, the spacecraft has yet to be certified for manned flight due to a mistake during a test flight in 2024, which caused the two astronauts to stay on the International Space Station for several months longer than originally planned.

Due to Starliner's engine failure, NASA handed over this mission to Space Exploration Technology, which used the Dragon spacecraft to return the astronauts to Earth.

SpaceX has also signed a contract with NASA to build a spacecraft similar to the Dragon spacecraft, which will be responsible for removing the International Space Station from orbit. The exact progress of these plans is currently unclear.