Musk Threatens to Pull Dragon Capsule, Leaving NASA Reliant on Russia

In an intensifying war of words on social media, Elon Musk threatened on Thursday to retire the Dragon spacecraft, a critical vehicle for carrying astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). The announcement was made after Donald Trump, the former U.S. President, said he would end government contracts with Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink services. Musk reacted on X, declaring: “SpaceX will start decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft right away.”

It is unclear how sincere Musk’s comment was. But the Dragon capsule, built with government support, is now a critical tool in keeping ISS running. NASA depends not only on SpaceX to send crews to the station but also on it to carry out science missions and eventually lunar missions.

Dragon Capsule: NASA’s Lifeline to ISS

Currently, SpaceX is the sole US company that can transport astronauts to and from the ISS on its four-seat Dragon capsules. Boeing’s competitor, the Starliner, has completed only one crewed flight—also plagued with problems. The two NASA astronauts who flew aboard the Starliner in June 2023 were forced to come back on a SpaceX spacecraft in March 2024 after being stuck for more than nine months.

While the Starliner remains on the ground, NASA is considering whether to execute a second test flight that will carry only cargo. SpaceX’s Dragon capsules also accommodate private missions, such as a forthcoming one sponsored by Houston-based Axiom Space. Cargo versions of Dragon continue to resupply the lab in orbit.

Russia Becomes the Only Backup

If Musk carries out his threat, NASA’s only alternative for crew transport would be Russia’s Soyuz capsules, which transport three astronauts together. In a barter agreement, each Soyuz launch has one NASA astronaut and two Russians, and each SpaceX launch has a Russian cosmonaut. In this arrangement, both American and Russian personnel are on every spacecraft in case of an emergency return.

SpaceX’s debut in crewed spaceflight in 2020 was a turning point for NASA, lowering U.S. dependence on expensive Russian seats that once cost tens of millions of dollars. Crew transport is only one facet of NASA’s use of Russian and Northrup Grumman spacecraft; the agency also employs them for cargo flights.

Wider SpaceX-NASA Relations

Aside from ISS missions, SpaceX is now an integral part of several government space missions. SpaceX launches scientific satellites and military payloads for NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense on a regular basis. In a major contract last year, SpaceX was designated to safely deorbit the ISS when the time arrives.

NASA has also enlisted the use of SpaceX’s enormous Starship rocket to send astronauts to the moon on future Artemis missions. While Starship recently finished its ninth test flight last week, it crashed in mid-air and broke apart showing the dangers of depending on a single provider.