Elon Musk is coming after Boeing’s chief executive, David Calhoun, here on Earth while the electric car mogul’s SpaceX is asserting its dominance over Boeing in outer space. 

SpaceX just won a big contract with NASA. Boeing, in contrast, is struggling to return its Starliner spacecraft to the ground from the International Space Station.

“The CEO of an aircraft company should know how to design an aircraft, not spreadsheets,” Mr. Musk said in response to a post on X about Mr. Calhoun’s background in accounting.

This is not the first time Mr. Musk has gone after industry rivals. He and Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg have been feuding for the past eight years. 

Mr. Calhoun will be stepping down from his role at the end of the year — which could make him an easy target — amidst fallout from troubles with Boeing airplanes. 

Mr. Musk appears to be trying to show, as well, that his jabs are more than mere words. The latest victory for SpaceX proves his point.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration just awarded SpaceX with an $843 million contract to develop and deliver the deorbit vehicle for when the International Space Station retires. 

In other words, SpaceX will help NASA destroy the space station. The ISS will be pushed out of orbit upon its retirement, which is set to occur in 2030.

“NASA is putting a lot of eggs into the SpaceX basket, but SpaceX has consistently been able to deliver,” the deputy director of the aerospace security project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Clayton Swope, tells the Sun.

There will likely be another contract for launching the deorbit vehicle into space, which could provide additional funding for SpaceX. NASA, though, will be the one to operate the mission to deorbit using SpaceX’s technology.

SpaceX, it seems, is winning the race against Boeing for dominance in America’s space race. While SpaceX wins a contract, Boeing struggles to get astronauts back from the space station.

The Boeing Starliner has already faced multiple delays in its return to Earth. The Starliner had issues with its thrusters and a propellant valve, as well as helium leaks, on its journey to the space station, and the delays allowed for additional systems checks on the vehicle.

NASA has not clarified precisely why it remains uncomfortable sending the Starliner back. “A question would be whether any issues like these came up in reviews before launch,” Mr. Swope says. “If they did, why was NASA comfortable waiving these issues then but not now?”

NASA and Boeing have a few weeks to get the spaceship in order before the final countdown. Starliner officially has until July 20 to remain docked at the ISS, but reserve systems could allow the vehicle to stay put another 72 days.

“The current Starliner/ISS fiasco has only highlighted SpaceX’s obvious future dominance in the national security space sector, as well as its current dominance in the commercial sector,” the director of the quantum alliance initiative at the Hudson Institute, Arthur Herman, tells the Sun.

A number of aerospace forums and social media personnel are speculating that a rescue mission to retrieve Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore could be carried out by SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Such an occurrence would be demoralizing for Boeing and its Starliner.

Aerospace analysts, such as Mr. Swope, are not ruling out the possibility and say there are indeed other options to bring the astronauts home. “If there are any concerns about the safety of the crew,” Mr. Swope says, “there is no reason to send a crew back in Starliner.”

The success of either SpaceX or Boeing, or both, will be important for American space exploration, national security, and providing domestic job opportunities. The success of both companies is “good for America’s space enterprise and it gives NASA backup options for getting astronauts into space,” Mr. Swope says.

SpaceX, nonetheless, deserves a round of applause — and perhaps more — for winning the contract. “Kudos to SpaceX for proving it can do space at scale like no other company today,” Mr. Swope says.

“It’s clear NASA as well as DoD’s Space Force need to embrace SpaceX as their key industry partner,” Mr. Herman adds. “Are they ready to learn the lessons Musk is offering? The future of America in space may depend on the answer.”