Musk claims Biden administration blocked rescue mission for stranded astronauts

Elon Musk has claimed that the Biden administration intervened to prevent a SpaceX rescue mission aimed at saving astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) before the 2024 presidential election. 

“I was told that the White House had issued instructions that there should be no rescue attempts before the election,” the SpaceX CEO said during an appearance on comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast, suggesting that political considerations were behind the decision, Caliber.Az reports. 

When asked by Rogan whether the former administration may have feared the mission would be seen as politically motivated, Musk responded:

“They didn’t directly say that it would be bad political behavior, they just made it clear that they were not interested in any rescue operations before the election.”

Musk noted that he was not particularly surprised by the decision, citing his strained relationship with the Biden administration. This tension stems in part from Musk’s support of US President Donald Trump’s election campaign.

In March of this year, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft safely returned to Earth with the Crew-9 mission crew, which included NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore, Sunita Williams, and Nick Hague, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. 

These astronauts had been expected to stay aboard the ISS until June 14. However, their return was delayed after a malfunction with several maneuvering engines during the spacecraft’s docking and the astronauts were stranded for nine months in space. 

By Sabina Mammadli