The head of NASA said that negotiations between Elon Musk and Vladimir Putin would be “disturbing”

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has expressed concern over reports that SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk regularly communicates with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Nelson was on stage at the Semafor World Economic Summit on Friday (Oct. 25) when he was asked about the Oct. 24 Wall Street Journal article. articlewhich reported that Musk had been secretly in regular contact with Putin since late 2022, after Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of the same year. The report quotes former US, European and Russian officials.

“(SpaceX) has been phenomenally successful… I don’t know if that story is true,” Nelson said. “I think this should be investigated. If this is true, then there were several conversations with him. Elon Musk and the President of Russia, then this will be a concern, especially for NASA and the Department of Defense,” Nelson said in response to Semaphore. reported.

Mask SpaceX is an important commercial partner of NASA. His Falcon 9 rockets deliver cargo and crew to International Space Station. It’s huge, in development Starship The vehicle is also integral to the agency’s bid to return astronauts to the Moon using Artemis 3 mission in the coming years.

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Musk recently criticized the Biden administration and campaigned for Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential election.

Nelson did not directly criticize SpaceX in the interview. He noted that he has developed a strong working relationship with the company through Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell.

Musk has not commented on reports of discussions with Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied this information. claiming that before 2022, the only telephone conversation took place during which Musk and Putin discussed various technologies.

The head of NASA said that negotiations between Elon Musk and Vladimir Putin would be “disturbing”

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