SpaceX and ispace: New Frontiers Amid Political Tensions

Elon Musk's SpaceX is set to begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft following a political conflict with President Donald Trump. The decision comes after Trump's suggestion to terminate federal contracts with Musk's companies. This development could disrupt NASA's $4.9 billion reliance on Dragon for astronaut missions to the International Space Station.

In Japan, the lunar ambitions of the company ispace hit a setback as they failed to establish communication with their moon lander post-touchdown attempt. This marks their second attempt after an initial failure two years ago. Despite this, ispace remains determined to join U.S. companies in achieving commercial lunar landings.

Japan's ispace is tirelessly working towards becoming the first non-U.S. company to execute a successful moon landing. Their upcoming attempt marks a critical step in the competitive international race to the moon, which includes state missions from China and India and successful landings by U.S. firms like Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace.

(With inputs from agencies.)