NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Friday said a report claiming SpaceX owner Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2022 “should be investigated.”
The former astronaut and U.S. senator acknowledged Musk does not handle day-to-day operations at the aerospace company, which works closely with NASA. But he said even though SpaceX has been “phenomenally successful” and intends to develop a spacecraft that will land on the moon, The Wall Street Journal report raises questions.
“I don’t know that that story is true, [but] I think it should be investigated,” Nelson said. “If the story is true, that there have been multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then I think that would be concerning, particularly for NASA, for the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies.”
NASA works with SpaceX, whose Dragon capsule brought back three astronauts and one cosmonaut from the International Space Station Friday.
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Musk has regularly spoken to Putin since 2022 on issues related to international politics, personal issues and business, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing officials from the U.S., Europe and Russia.
The Journal noted that SpaceX earned a $1.8 billion classified U.S. government contract in 2021, and Musk has a top-secret security clearance.
A U.S. official said people in the government aware of Musk’s relationship with Putin don’t “love” it, but no alerts of possible national security breaches have been raised, the Journal reported.
During one of their conversations, Putin asked Musk to delay activating Starlink over Taiwan as a favor to China, the Journal reported. Starlink never got permission for Starlink in Taiwan, where there are restrictions on foreign satellite providers.
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Months after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, increased restrictions were put on Ukraine’s military use of Starlink, the Journal reported. Musk reportedly said that the restrictions were over concerns of nuclear war in Crimea.
SpaceX denied the Journal’s claims in a statement posted to social media, calling the story “misleading” and noting the company has aided Ukraine ever since Russia invaded in 2022.
“Starlink has kept Ukrainians online and connected to the world throughout the conflict, and Starlink has defended itself against major efforts to disrupt that connection, at great cost to the company,” the statement said in part.
“Regarding Taiwan, as even the Taiwan government has confirmed, Starlink is not available there because Taiwan has not given us a license to operate, and regulators declined to remove a requirement that a foreign entity own 51% of Starlink to operate there. SpaceX has not accepted such a condition for any market in which it operates. This has nothing to do with Russia or China.”
Regarding the report, Musk reposted a comment on X that said, “Welp, the Swamp’s ‘Trump is Hitler’ didn’t work. Might as well give ‘Elon is a Russian agent’ a whirl.” He added two laughing emoji.
Musk has endorsed former President Trump for president and there has been speculation he could have a position in a second Trump administration.
A Pentagon spokesperson told the Journal, “We do not comment on any individual’s security clearance, review or status or about personnel security policy matters in the context of reports about any individual’s actions.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday said in a press briefing, “I’m not a position to corroborate the veracity of those reports, and we would refer you to Mr. Musk to speak to his private communications.”
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FOX Business has reached out to SpaceX and NASA for comment.
