Musk’s plan is to eliminate the ISS to cut costs, and also to advance his leap to Mars
Elon Musk has gained a prominent role within the United States government, accompanied by a great deal of praisefrom President Trump in a recent interview on Fox News. His objective within this organisation is clear: to manage DOGE in order to reduce expenses drastically. To this end, he has not hesitated to close organizations, fire people and is also considering going against space.
The International Space Station is the next target Musk has in mind. A project in which different countries work together and which has undoubtedly made history. Now Musk wants to eliminate it.
Musk has no doubts about starting to save with DOGE
“It is time to begin preparations to de-orbit the International Space Station” was the message Musk wrote on his X account this Thursday, setting off alarm bells. The problem is that he wants to eliminate it to prioritize the conquest of Mars, which will need the SpaceX rocket. Something that may be at the limit of what is ethical in politics.
“It has fulfilled its purpose. Its incremental usefulness is very small. Let’s go to Mars.“ A second message in which he details that his objective is to continue exploring the universe. When will the dismantling be done? Musk himself has answered this question by stating that ”The decision depends on the president, but my recommendation is that it be done as soon as possible.”
The end of the ISS was a reality. It was not going to last forever due to its ageing. The plan was to end the operation of this base in 2030, when a SpaceX vehicle was to be used to tow it to a safe place for it to re-enter the atmosphere. But in the end Musk does not want to pay for the extra five years of maintenance and advocates for its elimination sooner.
This is not an easy move. We must bear in mind that the International Space Station (ISS) does not belong to the United States alone. Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada also participate. However, it will basically depend on both Russia and the United States, two countries that have now begun to improve their relations.
In the past, we have already seen how Russia threatened to withdraw its module before 2030. Something that Trump could now do in the same way. Although this would put an end to the many research projects that are carried out on this station, and even to the plans that are already in place to take certain astronauts like Pablo Álvarez.
These statements come after an argument. These words were published on X after Musk had an argument with Andreas Mogensen who pointed out that there are still two astronauts trapped on the ISS. Faced with this message, Musk ended up exploding, promoting this proposal and responding to Mogensen harshly: “You are a complete mental retard. SpaceX could have brought them back months ago.”
