Six internal emails were leaked this week that share statements from United Launch Alliance Vice President Robbie Sabathier to a lobbyist about NASA’s “incompetent” leaders and favoritism towards SpaceX.
The emails leaked from the ULA employee also contain wild speculation that contracts awarded to SpaceX by NASA were tied to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s inferred support for former President Trump.
President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are in the midst of an unconventional campaign cycle for the 2020 presidential election.
Mr. Trump, who attended the SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon launch on Saturday, is vying for a second term in office. Mr. Biden, who has largely relied on virtual rallies during the COVID-19 pandemic, is the presumptive nominee for the party out of power.
Both presidential candidates have addressed the first SpaceX mission to send NASA astronauts to space this week.
Vice President Mike Pence who chairs the Space Counsel is expected to be in attendance when NASA and SpaceX send astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the ISS from the U.S. next week, and now President Trump has weighed in:
President Trump issued an executive order on April 6 to encourage commercial companies to work with NASA and its Artemis program.
Specifically, the ordered denounced the Moon Treaty in an effort to ease concerns for international partners concerned with policy on the use of lunar resources.
Now the Trump administration appears to be going one step further with a new international agreement that not only doesn’t recognize but counters the Moon Treaty.
President Trump signed a new executive order on Monday called “Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources.”
The goal of the policy, which is supported by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, is to encourage commercial companies to participate in NASA’s Artemis program to return to the Moon and beyond.
The White House acknowledges international space policy uncertainty that it says has discouraged potential partners from working with NASA.
