In the face of drug use allegations that could jeopardise million-dollar contracts, NASA has come to Elon Musk’s defence, as the space agency waits on a SpaceX lunar lander for its Artemis missions.
NASA responded to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, which claimed that Musk’s drug use is alarming and worrying for SpaceX executives. “The agency does not have evidence of non-compliance from SpaceX on how the company addresses the drug- and alcohol-free workforce regulations,” NASA said in a statement on Thursday, Bloomberg News reported. “We expect our commercial partners to meet all workplace safety requirements in the execution of those missions and the services they provide the American people.”
The Wall Street Journal report detailed conversations with multiple sources who said that Musk indulges in cocaine, LSD, and psychedelic mushrooms at parties, and that his ongoing drug use prompts his erratic behaviour. In response, Musk has denied the allegations and said that he underwent random drug testing for three years based on a request by NASA. “Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol,” the SpaceX CEO wrote on X.
In 2018, NASA launched a safety review at SpaceX after Musk was seen smoking weed during an on-camera interview with podcast host Joe Rogan. “We fully expect our commercial partners to meet all workplace safety requirements in the execution of our missions and the services they provide the American people,” NASA told Gizmodo at the time. “As always, NASA will ensure they do so.”
As a government-owned space agency, NASA has to ensure its commercial partners adhere to its workplace regulations. SpaceX is currently an industry leader, and NASA is in deep with the private rocket company. The space agency relies on SpaceX to launch its astronauts to the International Space Station on board its Dragon crew capsule. SpaceX is also pivotal to NASA’s ongoing quest to return humans to the Moon, the company is under a $US2.89 billion contract to use the mega rocket in landing humans on the Moon by late 2025 as part of the space agency’s Artemis 3 mission, and then again for Artemis 4 in 2028, under a separate $US1.15 billion contract signed last year.
The Pentagon also awarded SpaceX its first contract last year for Starshield, a military version of the company’s Starlink satellites. The contract is worth $US70 million.
Based on these government contracts, the SpaceX CEO needs be on his best behaviour. “If drugs actually helped improve my net productivity over time, I would definitely take them!” Musk wrote on X.
Want to know more about Elon Musk’s space venture? Check out our full coverage of SpaceX’s Starship mega rocket and the SpaceX Starlink internet satellite megaconstellation.