Feud Between SpaceX and ULA Over Space Contract Grows More Intense

Given the stakes involved — the Pentagon expects to spend almost $70 billion on the program by 2030 — Marco Caceres, a senior analyst at the Teal Group, said he was not surprised that Musk “is playing hardball.” “There’s a lot at stake,” he said. “These contracts are very lucrative.” But, Caceres said, there could be other implications. The United States depends on Russia to take its astronauts to the space station. And if Russia decided it would not longer do that, it “could become a political nightmare,” he said. “Certainly it would be an embarrassment for the United States if there are no Americans on the space station.”