Musk is ready to throw in the towel, and American astronauts could be in trouble.

Musk: SpaceX will immediately begin retiring the "Dragon" spacecraft.

On June 6, Musk stated, "In light of the U.S. President's announcement regarding the cancellation of our government contract, SpaceX will immediately begin to retire its 'Dragon' spacecraft."

BlockBeats Note: The 'Dragon' spacecraft is a reusable crew/cargo spacecraft developed by SpaceX for NASA and other customers, primarily with two versions: Cargo Dragon: used for transporting cargo to the International Space Station (ISS); Crew Dragon (crewed Dragon): used for sending astronauts to the International Space Station.

Currently, NASA heavily relies on SpaceX's Crew Dragon to send astronauts to the International Space Station. If retired, NASA will temporarily lack reliable domestic crewed spaceflight capabilities and will have to rely on Boeing's Starliner (which has just begun service) or foreign space agencies. If cargo missions are suspended, it could affect the supply and scientific experiments of the space station. Retirement would also impact the reputation and leadership of American commercial spaceflight. $BNB