As Musk prepared this weekend to unveil the latest details about SpaceX’s Starship, a solo effort intended to send people to the moon and Mars, Bridenstine tweeted: “NASA expects to see the same level of enthusiasm focused on the investments of the American taxpayer.” Musk responded by saying that most of SpaceX’s resources go toward the Commercial Crew program and that the company is going “as fast as we can.” He even joked about NASA’s own effort to build a rocket to reach the moon, which is also years behind schedule.

It’s practically in the job description for NASA administrators to tell contractors to meet deadlines, but the public back-and-forth felt unprecedented; how many contractors also have a Mars spaceship project on the side?

I spoke with Bridenstine today about the Commercial Crew program. The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.



Marina Koren: Did you watch Elon’s presentation this weekend?

Jim Bridestine: I did, yes.

Koren: What did you think?

Bridenstine: I thought it was awesome. I think it was inspirational. I like it when contractors get people enthused and inspired about space exploration, and I was inspired myself.

Koren: Why did you post that tweet?

Bridenstine: We are working really hard as an agency to get to a day where when we announce a cost and schedule, we can have credibility. Our contractors have to be as committed to that as we are. I was getting a lot of calls from the media about this event, and so we just sent a tweet and said, look, we look forward to this, this is exciting, but at the same time we expect our contractors to be as committed to the programs that the American taxpayer has invested in.

Koren: Both SpaceX and Boeing are behind schedule on Commercial Crew. You told CNN last night that Starliner’s flight is still months away. Why single out SpaceX?

Bridenstine: I don’t. I’ve been critical of all contractors that overpromise and underdeliver. We are not singling out anybody.

Koren: After the big presentation on Saturday, a reporter asked Elon to respond to your tweet. Elon said, “Did he say Commercial Crew or SLS?” [SLS stands for the Space Launch System, the NASA capsule and rocket that is meant to deliver astronauts to the moon.] What do you make of that?

Bridenstine: Well, I don’t think that’s helpful. Commercial Crew is about getting to low-Earth orbit. We are spending $85 million every time we have to buy a Russian Soyuz seat to get to the International Space Station.

SLS, that’s a whole different mission. SLS is going to the moon. So I don’t know why you would compare the two. But certainly SLS is behind schedule and over cost. We want them to get back on cost and schedule as well. We are holding them accountable just as much as anybody else.

Koren: Have you thought about a future in which private companies leapfrog NASA in the effort to go to the moon?