Elon Musk continues his crusade in the context of the 2024 US presidential elections, choosing, this time, to shift his focus to the effect election results might have on SpaceX’s Mars program.
On Sunday, September 22nd, Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X, saying that the Biden administration is stalling the company’s Mars program thanks to a mountain of government bureaucracy.
Musk began his post by saying that his company, SpaceX, is planning to launch five uncrewed starships to Mars by 2026 and announced that if the missions were a success, crewed missions should be possible by 2028.
The billionaire carried on by saying that the fundamental question is whether or not humanity wants to become a sustainable multi-planetary species before something like nuclear war or a super disease wipes us all off the face of the Earth.
Elon Musk says that a democratic administration would doom SpaceX and humanity
Musk then turned his attention to the political issues at the heart of the matter. In his statement, he said, “This stifling red tape (government bureaucracy) is affecting all large projects in America, which is why, for example, California has spent $7 billion dollars and several years on high-speed rail, but only has a 1600 ft section of concrete to show for it!”
He concluded his statement by saying that besides his biggest concerns over Kamala Harris getting elected, he firmly believes “that the bureaucracy currently choking America to death is guaranteed to grow under a Democratic Party administration. This would destroy the Mars program and doom humanity.”
Political commentators have suggested that this statement was prompted by former President Trump’s recent comments at a rally, where he said that during his second administration, he would “talk to Elon and get the rocket ships going.”
Former President Trump was supportive of US activities in space. During his administration, he pushed NASA to put another team on the moon before 2024 and also set up the United States Space Force Service.
Space has largely been an untapped topic during the 2024 presidential race thus far
Throughout the 2024 presidential elections, space travel has been a relatively untapped topic of discussion for both candidates. It really comes as no surprise given that political analysts say there are local topics that are far more important.
Nonetheless, Kamala Harris does have space-related experience. She has been the chair of the National Space Council since 2021, and she pushed forty countries to sign the Artemis Accords, state-of-the-art peace accords that will rule space governance for decades to come.
Furthermore, Elon Musk’s SpaceX received major funding from the US government in recent years. For instance, Musk’s company was awarded a major contract in 2021 to develop a lunar lander, valued at around $2.9 billion, for NASA. The company has also earned several national security contracts and more funding for its Starlink program under the Biden administration.
