NASA chief calls for reported Musk-Putin talks to be investigated

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson called for The Wall Street Journal’s recent report on “secret” conversations between tech billionaire Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin to be investigated. 

Nelson first emphasized that NASA is “non-partisan political” and praised SpaceX for its recent work in developing spacecraft, before saying that the Journal’s Thursday report should be looked into. 

“I don’t know that that story is true,” Nelson said at a conference hosted by news outlet Semafor. “I think it should be investigated."

"If the story’s true, that there have been multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then I think that would be concerning, particularly for NASA, the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies,” he continued.

Nelson’s response comes after the Journal published a report stating Musk and Putin have been in touch since late 2022, having discussions that were confirmed to the outlet by “several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials.” The sources told the Journal the conversations were on “personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions.” 

The Journal reported that Russia’s president at one point asked Musk not to activate Starlink internet service over Taiwan for the sake of giving a favor to China’s President Xi Jinping, citing sources briefed on the request. 

The outlet said Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

NASA and SpaceX are commercial partners, and NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 returned to Earth Friday after seven months at the International Space Station. 

Earlier this year, Putin praised Musk as a “smart guy.” 

“I think there’s no stopping Elon Musk. He will do as he sees fit. Nevertheless, you’ll need to find some common ground with him. Search for ways to persuade him. I think he’s a smart person. I truly believe he is. So you’ll need to reach an agreement with him because this process needs to be formalized and subjected to certain rules.”

The Hill has reached out to SpaceX for comment.