Musk criticises Nasa's Sean Duffy as Isaacman praises agency leader

By Loren Grush and Ed Ludlow

 

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk lobbed criticism at Nasa’s interim administrator Sean Duffy, taking high-risk shots at a member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet as the nomination process for the agency’s top job intensifies.

 

In posts Tuesday on his X social media platform, Musk insulted Duffy, who is the Secretary of Transportation. He also criticised Duffy’s proposal of folding Nasa into the department and the prospect of the transportation secretary continuing to helm the agency instead of fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman, a longtime Musk ally.

 

“I have a lot of respect for Secretary Duffy and I have always enjoyed the time I’ve spent with him,” Isaacman told Bloomberg. “I’m grateful to all the supporters and to President Trump for the consideration, and most of all, I just wish to see Nasa continue to shine as the world’s most accomplished space agency.” 

 

The comments by Musk, the space industry’s most prominent CEO, come a day after Duffy expressed frustration over the development by Musk’s company of a lunar lander and said the agency is opening up a SpaceX contract to competitors.

 

They also heighten the drama around a nomination process already seen as a turning point for a US agency grappling with proposed funding cuts and a race to the moon against China. 

 

“Sean Dummy is trying to kill Nasa!” Musk wrote in a social media post. 

 

Duffy responded to Musk on X, saying, “Great companies shouldn’t be afraid of a challenge.”

 

Speculation is swirling in the industry that Duffy wants to stay on as head of Nasa, according to people familiar with the matter. 

 

A Nasa spokesperson confirmed that Duffy had suggested putting the agency within the Department of Transportation, but downplayed his desire to stay on as administrator.

 

“Sean said that Nasa might benefit from being part of the Cabinet, maybe even within the Department of Transportation, but he’s never said he wants to keep the job himself,” Nasa spokesperson Bethany Stevens said. 

 

Duffy’s interest in keeping the job was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

 

The feud comes as the administration vets candidates for a permanent administrator to lead the US space agency.

 

Trump and Duffy have interviewed multiple candidates, including Isaacman. Early this year, Trump nominated Isaacman to run Nasa but then revoked the nomination as the president’s relations with Musk soured. 

 

Isaacman has flown to space twice with SpaceX and has invested an undisclosed amount of money into the company to help fund research and development.

 

Musk’s tactics are reminiscent of his brash remarks that fueled the very public falling out between Trump and the billionaire over the president’s signature tax bill earlier this year.  

 

SpaceX holds contracts with Nasa worth $4 billion to develop its massive Starship rocket into a lunar lander that can put the agency’s astronauts on the surface of the moon within the next few years. 

 

But SpaceX has fallen behind schedule, Duffy said, and he called on industry to come up with other lunar landers that might be able to get astronauts to the moon faster.

 

Musk reposted an X post that said “Alright, Duffy has got to go,” in response to an article about Duffy’s comments.