Trump-Backed Funding Shift Puts NASA Moon Program Ahead of Musk’s Mars Plans
Former President Donald Trump has thrown his weight—and $10 billion in federal funding—behind NASA’s Artemis program, a move that slows Elon Musk’s long-standing ambition to focus U.S. resources on a human mission to Mars.
SpaceX vs. Artemis
For more than a decade, Musk’s private company SpaceX has worked toward launching astronauts to the Red Planet and, eventually, establishing a settlement there. NASA has been exploring similar long-range goals, but its nearer-term priority has shifted back to the Moon.
The new Senate spending package—nicknamed the “Big Beautiful Bill”—directs $10 billion toward Artemis. That initiative will use NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years and lay groundwork for a permanent American presence by the late 2020s.
SpaceX and Artemis represent sharply different engineering philosophies:
- SpaceX: Emphasizes reusable rockets to lower launch costs.
- SLS/Artemis: Relies on an expendable, single-use booster—an approach Musk calls costly and outdated.
Musk has described SLS as an “extremely inefficient, jobs-maximizing program” and argued that focusing on the Moon is “a distraction” from the ultimate aim of reaching Mars.
A Policy Reversal
The funding boost comes after earlier White House budgets proposed trimming SLS costs. Observers note the change of course may reflect broader political calculations—and perhaps Trump’s deteriorating relationship with Musk, who vocally supported the former president’s initial pro-Mars rhetoric.
Whatever the motivation, the result is clear: U.S. resources will now flow first to a Moon return, potentially pushing large-scale Mars planning—and therefore Musk’s centerpiece vision—into the 2030s or beyond.
What It Means Going Forward
- NASA: Gains a sizable infusion to keep Artemis on track for a crewed lunar landing as early as 2026.
- SpaceX: Must adjust to a landscape where NASA’s immediate exploration dollars favor SLS and the Moon, not Mars.
- Mars Timeline: Human flights to the Red Planet will almost certainly be delayed if Artemis milestones dominate this decade.
For Musk, it is a strategic setback—proof that federal priorities can shift quickly, even when private industry pushes an alternative vision. For NASA, it signals a renewed commitment to “back to the Moon,” with or without SpaceX’s reusable rockets.
The post Donald Trump sets aside $10,000,000,000 to fund Elon Musk’s ‘worst nightmare’ appeared first on Teknolojibura.
