Congress Burns Billions to Launch Disposable Rockets While Musk Throws a Fit From the Sidelines

Congress has approved a $10 billion boost to NASA’s Artemis program, favoring old-school aerospace giants over reusable rocket alternatives championed by Elon Musk and Jared Isaacman.

The Senate passed President Trump’s budget reconciliation bill Tuesday, showering fresh billions on the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Gateway lunar station despite growing criticism from newer space players.

Roughly $4.1 billion of the new funding is earmarked for two more SLS rockets—each a multibillion-dollar firework with zero reusability—while $2.6 billion will fund completion of Gateway, the moon’s least popular Airbnb.

Musk and Isaacman, who were once in Trump’s orbit, have publicly condemned the SLS as wasteful, with Musk slamming it for being a single-use $2.5 billion dinosaur.

The timing is exquisitely petty, as Trump recently yanked Isaacman’s NASA administrator nomination, making this budget move a not-so-subtle middle finger.

Despite previously proposing to phase out SLS and the Orion capsule after Artemis III, the administration’s pivot throws that plan into a crater.

To sweeten the pot for everyone else, the bill also includes $700 million for a Mars telecommunications orbiter, $1.25 billion for ISS operations, and $325 million to SpaceX to start developing the ISS de-orbit vehicle.

The total ISS de-orbit contract is worth $843 million, offering Musk a consolation prize while Congress continues its affair with expendable tech.

So while the future of spaceflight cries out for innovation and efficiency, Washington is doubling down on lighting money on fire for nostalgia’s sake.