SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is not pleased with the $19.5 billion NASA spending bill that President Trump signed on Tuesday, even though sending humans to Mars remains a long-term goal of the space agency.
After the president touted the legislation in a tweet, Kara Swisher, co-founder of the tech news site ReCode, tweeted that Musk must be smiling. Musk replied to that tweet: “I am not.”
Indicating disappointment in a bill that he said “changes almost nothing about what NASA is doing,” Musk explained that “existing programs stay in place and there is no added funding for Mars.”
Somewhere @elonmusk is smiling. https://t.co/YC79fGHlXF
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) March 22, 2017
Musk, a Silicon Valley billionaire who also founded Tesla, wants SpaceX to be a private-sector leader in Mars exploration. His company already has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA that has included resupply missions to the International Space Station and Musk has shared plans for reusable rockets and spacecraft that could enable interplanetary travel by the next decade.
The bill signed by Trump continues financial support for space launches operated by private companies and makes manned missions to Mars an official goal of NASA.
Still, Musk, who is also a member of Trump’s business advisory council, is not convinced this bill is the one he was looking for. “Perhaps there will be some future bill that makes a difference for Mars, but this is not it,” he said.
Perhaps there will be some future bill that makes a difference for Mars, but this is not it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 22, 2017
