US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30, 2025, in Washington. Photo: VCG

NASA and Pentagon officials moved swiftly this past week to urge competitors to Elon Musk's SpaceX to more quickly develop alternative rockets and spacecraft after US President Donald Trump threatened to cancel Space X's contracts and Musk's defiant response, The Washington Post reported on Saturday local time. 

Per media reports, US officials have contacted at least three commercial space companies to assess their rocket development and availability for government missions. 

About $22 billion of SpaceX's government contracts are at risk in the fallout from Musk and US president's explosive feud. The disagreement, rooted in Musk's criticism of Trump's tax-cut and spending legislation that began last week, quickly spiraled out of control. Trump lashed out at Musk and later threatened to terminate government contracts with Musk's companies, Reuters reported. 

Government officials were stunned after Musk responded to Trump with a salvo of his own: SpaceX would stop flying its Dragon spacecraft, a move that would leave the space agency with no way to transport its astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). While Musk later recanted his threat, it alarmed officials at NASA, which entrusts SpaceX with the lives of its astronauts, and at the Pentagon, which relies heavily on the company to launch its most sensitive satellites, per The Washington Post.

Since the fallout, at least three commercial space companies, Rocket Lab, Stoke Space and Blue Origin have been contacted by government officials about the status of their rockets and when they might be available for government missions, according to people familiar with the inquiries, per media reports.

Boeing's Starliner space capsule vehicle is also being reconsidered an alternative. However, with Starliner's first human spaceflight mission to the ISS last summer running into so many problems, NASA decided it was unsafe to return to the crew with Boeing. 

Song Zhongping, a Chinese space and military affairs expert, said on Sunday that for Musk, SpaceX's steady profits from routine NASA launches are crucial, and losing government contracts would deal a major blow. Additionally, SpaceX depends heavily on Federal Aviation Administration approvals - if regulators tighten oversight, it could severely hinder company operations, Song told the Global Times. 

For US space and national defense agencies, SpaceX's technological edge are also vital to US space system, Song said.

In the latest spat over the pair, Trump on Saturday said there would be "serious consequences" if Elon Musk funds Democratic candidates to run against Republicans who vote in favor of the GOP's sweeping budget bill, NBC News reported. "If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that," Trump told NBC News in a phone interview, but declined to share what those consequences would be.

According to CNN, Trump had scrapped the idea of a call with Musk and was even thinking of ditching the red Tesla he bought at the height of their bromance, per White House officials. "Honestly I've been so busy working on China, working on Russia, working on Iran... I'm not thinking about Elon Musk, I just wish him well," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to his New Jersey golf club late Friday.