President Donald Trump's right-hand man, Elon Musk, hinted the International Space Station's days may be numbered.
"It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the @Space_Station. It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility. Let's go to Mars," the billionaire tech mogul turned DOGE leader posted to X Thursday.
It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the @Space_Station.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2025
It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility.
Let’s go to Mars.
Musk's call to retire the ISS comes as NASA is being slammed for leaving astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams adrift aboard the station for over 250 days—far beyond their planned eight-day stay—due to Boeing's Starliner failures.
SpaceX was called to assist with their return, but the mission has faced repeated delays.
"They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good," Musk said during a joint interview with Trump on Fox News Tuesday night. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO claimed NASA stalled the astronauts' return despite a Crew Dragon capsule being ready for rescue since September.
"At the president's request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts," Musk said, adding that his team has "brought astronauts back from the space station many times before, and always with success."
Hannity: You’re going to help rescue two astronauts
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 19, 2025
Musk: They were left up there for political reasons pic.twitter.com/jc07ooW018
The NASA astronauts refuted claims they were intentionally left behind during a CNN interview on February 13th.
"We don't feel abandoned, we don't feel stuck," Williams said. "Help us change the rhetoric; help us change the narrative. Let's change it to 'prepared and committed.'"
NASA has said that Wilmore and Williams are set to return "no earlier than late March," pending the arrival of a replacement crew. But the prolonged delay has fueled calls for a more proactive approach to space rescue operations before an emergency happens.
NASA is already planning to retire the International Space Station by 2030.
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