SpaceX owner Elon Musk's announcement to withdraw the Dragon capsules used to transport people and goods to the International Space Station (ISS) will not affect plans for the Ax-4 mission, in which Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski will fly to the ISS, PAP has learned unofficially. Despite this, SpaceX has not yet officially commented on the matter.
The fact that the announcement of the “grounding” of the Dragon spacecraft will not affect the planned launch of the mission on Tuesday was unofficially learned by PAP from two sources familiar with the mission plans. However, SpaceX, which owns the Dragon capsules, has not yet provided an official answer to PAP's questions. These are the vehicles that members of the Axiom Ax-4 mission, including the Pole Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, are to fly to the International Space Station.
Elon Musk, who is at odds with US President Donald Trump, announced on Thursday that he would begin to retire the Dragons “immediately” after Trump tweeted that the best way to save money in the budget would be to cancel government contracts with Musk’s companies.
“The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to end Elon’s government subsidies and contracts. I’ve always been surprised Biden hasn’t done that!” Trump wrote, referring to Musk’s criticism of the budget bill the president supports, which the billionaire says will put the country in too much debt.
One of Musk's largest government contracts is with NASA to transport astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station and Earth orbit. The Ax-4 mission is not an official NASA mission, but rather a mission of the space company Axiom Space. Despite this, the launch will take place from the Kennedy Space Center spaceport, belonging to the American space agency.
After Musk announced the retirement of Dragon, shares of some SpaceX competitors soared. RocketLab shares gained more than 6% in value after the close of trading, and Virgin Galactic gained more than 10%. SpaceX is not listed on the stock exchange, but another company Musk owns, Tesla, lost more than 14%.
The launch of the Ax-4 mission is planned for Tuesday at 8:22 a.m. local time (2:22 p.m. in Poland), although it was previously postponed.
“Okay, we won't retire Dragon”
US President Donald Trump on Thursday admitted he does not know whether he will continue to have a good relationship with billionaire Elon Musk, who has criticized his budget bill, admitting he is “very disappointed” with his former close adviser.
Trump said he would prefer if Musk criticized him personally, rather than the president's “big, beautiful bill.” “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if that will continue,” the American leader said in an interview with reporters in the Oval Office. He admitted that he was “very surprised” by Musk's criticism.
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From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)
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