Elon Musk has signalled a scaling back of hostilities with US President Donald Trump, stating that SpaceX will not be decommissioning the Dragon spacecraft. Musk had previously threatened to decommission the capsule in response to Trump’s threat to cancel all US government contracts with Musk’s companies.
“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately” Musk had wrote quoting a post by Trump.
However, the billionaire did seem in conciliatory mood after some advice from one of followers, writing, “This is a shame this back and forth. You are both better than this. Cool off and take a step back for a couple days.”
To this reply, Musk responded saying ‘Good advice’ and the Dragon spacecraft wouldn’t be decomissioned for now. Notably, SpaceX is at the risk of losing $22 billion worth of US government contracts if Trump does follow up on his threats.
Meanwhile, US would have no other option but to rely on Russia for getting its crews to the space station if Musk decommisions the Dragon spacecraft.
What is Dragon spacecraft?
Dragon spacecraft is a capsule developed by SpaceX with the help of government agencies, and it plays an important role in operating the space station, according to the Associated Press. NASA is reportedly heavily reliant on SpaceX for other programmes, such as launching scientific missions and returning astronauts from the Moon’s surface.
Currently, SpaceX is the only US company capable of transporting crews to and from the space station using its four-person Dragon capsules.
Although Boeing’s Starliner capsules have flown astronauts once before, last year’s test flight went so badly that two NASA astronauts had to take a SpaceX ride home in March.
NASA’s other option is to rely on Russia’s Soyuz capsules, which are currently the only alternative for transporting crews to the space station.
The Soyuz capsules reportedly have a capacity of three people per launch, with each launch carrying two Russian and one NASA astronaut. Meanwhile, each SpaceX launch carries one Russian astronaut as part of a barter system.
