Musk's new goal is distancing SpaceX from NASA
SpaceX, which has become a main pillar of US space programs, is showing increasingly less interest in new government contracts. Although the company continues to fulfill its current agreements, the priority directions in its future plans are changing. Ars Technica commentator Eric Berger links this shift to Elon Musk's desire to achieve dominance in the field of artificial intelligence on Earth and in space.
Musk's new goal is distancing SpaceX from NASA
American journalist and space analyst Eric Berger wrote in his new article that the relationship between SpaceX and the U.S. government is undergoing a serious transformation. According to his observations, the company, which once actively fought for government contracts, no longer needs most of them as it used to.
Over the past 15 years, SpaceX has provided the U.S. government with access to space at times when other contractors missed deadlines, exceeded set budgets, or failed to complete the task. In this regard, the company offered a reliable solution far more often than its competitors.
However, the balance in the relationship is now shifting in the opposite direction. As Berger writes, SpaceX is becoming less and less interested in government orders. Data transmission systems such as Starshield, which serves military communications and surveillance, may be an exception.
Signs indicating that cooperation is diminishing in at least some areas are increasing.
In particular, SpaceX has informed NASA that it will cease crewed flights of the Crew Dragon spacecraft no later than 2030. Yet currently, it is this very spacecraft that serves as the main means of regularly and reliably delivering NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.
SpaceX has also stopped selling commercial launch services on the Falcon 9 rocket for missions planned beyond 2028. The company may refuse to use this rocket for NASA orders in the future as well.
At a meeting of NASA's safety advisory panel in late October, Kent Rominger hinted at this possibility. According to him, if the American vehicle being developed based on the Dragon to deorbit the International Space Station is launched after 2030, a different type of rocket may be required to launch it into space.
Last week, SpaceX informed the U.S. Space Force that it would not participate in a competition for three new launches planned for the late 2020s. This refers to additional contracts beyond the company's existing obligations to the American military.
Another change concerns lunar payload delivery projects. SpaceX previously provided initial launch cost estimates to American companies building small landers for a future lunar base under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.