The Dragon Spacecraft Is a Crucial Vehicle for Getting Astronauts to Space

The feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk could have very real consequences. After all, Musk and Trump are two of the most powerful men in the world, and now that they're at each other's throats, things could change very rapidly. One place where the feud's impact might be felt is SpaceX, Musk's private space flight company.

After Trump suggested that he might be pulling Musk's government contracts, Musk announced that he would be decommissioning SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft "immediately." Now, many want to better understand what that spacecraft is, and why it might be bad if SpaceX stopped making them. Here's what we know.

The Dragon is actually a family of spacecraft produced by SpaceX, and crucially, it is the only way that NASA can get its astronauts from Earth to the International Space Station. There are versions of the spacecraft that carry both crew and cargo, and its design has evolved over time as SpaceX has continued to refine its technology. Musk had also at one point announced plans to develop a Red Dragon which would be designed for the colonization of Mars.

After Trump said that he was considering looking at all of Musk's government contracts, Musk tweeted that he would be decommissioning the craft "immediately," likely to prove that the government needs him just as much as he needs them.

After another user on X urged him to "cool off and take a step back for a couple of days," Musk wrote that he wouldn't decommission the craft after all.

So at the moment, the future of the craft is uncertain. Musk was clearly reacting emotionally when he suggested that they would decommission the craft, although if government funding for the flights really did dry up, it wouldn't make much sense to continue it. Still, it's unclear whether Musk's contracts will actually be rescinded so for now nothing has happened. Musk and Trump had their fight, and now we're seeing whether cooler heads can prevail.

Although the exchange about SpaceX was one of the high points of the feud between Musk and Trump, it was far from the only one. Musk also suggested that Trump was on the "Epstein list," which is why it hasn't seen the light of day, and also suggested that Trump's tariffs would cause a global recession. Ultimately, though, the feud didn't do much in the real world beyond sinking prices for Tesla.

It's unclear what Musk's relationship with the Trump administration will be moving forward, or whether any of the threats the two levied at one another are going to be met with concrete action. For now, it seems like things have cooled off, and the Dragon spacecraft can continue operation. That's good news for all the astronauts who want to head to the ISS, and also for the astronauts who are already up there.