all eyes on isaacman Concern about SpaceX influence at NASA grows with new appointee Morale at the space agency is absurdly low, sources say. Eric Berger Feb 3, 2025 6:13 pm | 22 SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft is ready for launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft is ready for launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Credit: SpaceX Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLike a lot of the rest of the federal government right now, NASA is reeling during the first turbulent days of the Trump administration.The last two weeks have brought a change in leadership in the form of interim administrator Janet Petro, whose ascension was a surprise. Her first act was to tell agency employees to remove diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility contracts and to "report" on anyone who did not carry out this order. Soon, civil servants began receiving emails from the US Office of Personnel Management that some perceived as an effort to push them to resign.Then there are the actions of SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Last week he sowed doubt by claiming NASA had "stranded" astronauts on the space station. (The astronauts are perfectly safe and have a ride home.) Perhaps more importantly, he owns the space agency's most important contractor and, in recent weeks, has become deeply enmeshed in operating the US government through his Department of Government Efficiency. For some NASA employees, whether or not it is true, there is now an uncomfortable sense that they are working for Musk and to dole out contracts to SpaceX.This concern was heightened late Friday when Petro announced that a longtime SpaceX employee named Michael Altenhofen had joined the agency "as a senior advisor to the NASA Administrator." Altenhofen is an accomplished engineer who interned at NASA in 2005 but has spent the last 15 years at SpaceX, most recently as a leader of human spaceflight programs. He certainly brings expertise, but his hiring also raises concerns about SpaceX's influence over NASA operations. Petro did not respond to a request for comment on Monday about potential conflicts of interest and the scope of Altenhofen's involvement.I spent this weekend talking and texting with NASA sources at various centers around the country, and the overriding message is that morale at the agency is "absurdly low." Meetings between civil servants and their leadership, such as an all-hands gathering at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia recently, have been fraught with tension. No one knows what will happen next.Rumors run rampantIn the absence of clear guidance from the Trump administration, rumors have been running rampant about the future of the space agency. They include concerns about the possibility of a 30 percent budget cut, consolidating field centers, potentially moving headquarters out of Washington, DC, taking astronauts off of Artemis II, canceling the Space Launch System rocket, and more. (Although there is a kernel of truth for many of these rumors, no final policy decisions have been made, according to sources.)Beyond the rumors and the uncertainty and unease this engenders, there are very real policy issues that require some sort of resolution in the coming months. Among them are:Deciding the fate of the multi-billion Mars Sample Return plan. Last month, NASA delayed a final decision on this to allow the Trump administration time to consider the plan to return rock samples from Mars to Earth for study. The most likely outcome is cancellation.What to do about the Artemis Program. There is no question the incoming administration is contemplating major changes to NASA's lunar return plans. This may include scrapping all of the existing missions or flying Artemis II and III mostly as is. Another big question is how large NASA's pivot to Mars will be, and how many resources will be pulled away from lunar settlement to send humans to Mars, which is preferred by both Trump and Musk.Should the Lunar Gateway fly or die. NASA has wanted to build a space station around the Moon for more than two decades. The real reason for this, which no one talks about, is a desire to find a home for the flight directors and controllers currently working for the International Space Station program. However, no one likes the odd orbit (near-rectilinear halo orbit) that the station is bound for. So expect Gateway to be moved or canceled outright.What to do with the International Space Station. NASA's current plans call for the end of space station operations by 2030, a sensible date because the station is aging and the partnership with Russia is wearing thin. However, NASA has underfunded a program to develop "commercial" space stations to provide a human presence in low-Earth orbit after the space station is retired. So will the Trump administration fly the ISS longer, accelerate funding for commercial alternatives, or accept a gap?Identify a coherent commercial strategy. There's no question the Trump administration will lean into commercial space. This makes sense, but the agency must also clearly identify in which areas this approach works and which it does not. For example, there is no commercial return on building big space telescopes or interplanetary probes. Commercial space can help by bringing down the cost of launch and satellite components, but NASA must lead on cosmic discovery, rovers on other worlds, and more.Leadership soughtInside the space agency, civil servants have placed their hope on getting an administrator named soon to bring some stability to the agency and begin answering some of these important policy questions. There is a lot of cautious optimism about private astronaut Jared Isaacman, whom Trump has nominated to lead the space agency. The NASA people I have spoken to in recent days have said they hope Senate confirmation of Isaacman as NASA administrator comes soon.Issacman's hearing in the US Senate is unlikely to occur before the second half of February, and some questions remain about him. Isaacman is close to SpaceX, having flown two Dragon missions. He has paid, and possibly still owes, significant money to SpaceX for the Polaris Program of missions he has signed up for. So, there are some financial entanglements.However, over the last five years, Isaacman has become a known commodity in the space community. His nomination has been cheered by most space organizations. Those who have met him have found Isaacman to be earnest and interested in spaceflight and in advancing exploration for allnot as some agent for SpaceX. He is seen as the kind of young, dynamic, pro-space leader with the potential to usher NASA into the 21st century and out of the Apollo era it has been stuck in for decades.Eric BergerSenior Space EditorEric BergerSenior Space Editor Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston. 22 Comments