Elon Musk is one of the biggest winners of the 2024 presidential election, next to President-elect Donald Trump. He went all in to reelect Trump, spending millions of dollars and even personally campaigning in the pivotal state of Pennsylvania.

Musk will have an outsized influence in the coming second Trump administration, particularly regarding space policy. Ars Technica has some interesting speculation as to what that means.

One of the major effects that Musk could have on a Trump space program may be in the Artemis program. That effect may be concerning as it involves Musk’s Mars ambitions.

Hitherto, Artemis has been envisioned to send astronauts back to the moon first, then send them to Mars at some future date. However, the new plan, pushed by Musk, may be to go directly to Mars at the same time as going to the moon or perhaps even bypassing the moon entirely.

Musk has boasted that he can send uncrewed Starship rockets to Mars by 2026 with a crewed expedition in 2028. The plan is very attractive to Trump since American and allied boots on the Martian surface by the end of his presidency would be a legacy enhancer.........

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