In many ways, Elon Musk’s tech empire is built on government money.
An analysis by The Washington Post estimates Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in state and federal contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits since 2003 — not including classified deals. And The Post estimates another $11.8 billion is coming in the next few years thanks to 52 active contracts.
SpaceX alone holds $22 billion in government contracts as of 2024, according to CEO Gwynne Shotwell. Federal agencies like NASA, the Department of Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office rely on the aerospace giant to launch satellites, travel to the International Space Station and deliver broadband connectivity, among other critical services.
At the same time, Musk — who donated $288 million to President Donald Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election — recently stepped down from a short-lived role leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which was tasked with cutting government spending. After Musk’s departure, his seemingly chummy relationship with the president devolved into an all-out beef after Musk criticized Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill for increasing the national deficit. In the days that followed, Trump threatened to terminate Musk’s subsidies and contracts.
The exchange highlighted just how reliant SpaceX, Tesla and other Musk companies are on government funding. And in turn, how reliant the government is on Musk’s technology. In this article, we’ll detail some of the most substantial government contracts held by Musk’s businesses — and the controversies surrounding them.
SpaceX Government Contracts
The vast majority of Musk’s companies’ government contracts come from SpaceX, specifically through its work with NASA and the Department of Defense.
NASA Crew Transportation to ISS
SpaceX transports NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station via its Crew Dragon spacecraft. NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.6 billion contract in 2014, with the goal of eliminating its reliance on Russian spacecraft for transportation services. In 2022, NASA awarded the company another $1.4 billion, bringing the contract’s total value to $4.9 billion. The contract expires in 2030, which is also when the International Space Station is slated to be decommissioned.
Lunar Lander for NASA’s Artemis Program
SpaceX is developing a lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program, which plans to send U.S. astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. NASA initially awarded the company a $2.89 billion contract in 2021, then another $1.15 billion in 2022, bringing the total contract amount to more than $4 billion. One of the primary goals of the Artemis program is to send the first woman and the first person of color to the moon for a weeklong exploration of the moon’s surface.
Resupplying the ISS for NASA
Since 2012, NASA has contracted with SpaceX to transport supplies to the International Space Station via its Dragon and Falcon 9 spacecraft. The most recent contract (CRS-2) was signed in 2016. It does not have a specific dollar amount, as it has been left open-ended for indefinite deliveries and quantities, but it has $3 billion in obligations as of July 2025. The contract has a cap of $14 billion and expires in 2030.
NASA Vehicle to Deorbit the ISS
NASA announced in 2024 that it had tapped SpaceX to develop a vehicle to deorbit the International Space Station in 2030. The contract has a potential value of $843 million. After SpaceX develops the spacecraft, NASA will take ownership of the vehicle and operate the deorbit mission, which will guide the space station back to Earth over an uninhabited region of an ocean. Both the space station and the deorbit vehicle will break up as they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA will award a separate contract for the launch of the deorbit vehicle.
Launch Services for NASA
NASA has a running contract with SpaceX to launch NASA’s satellites related to “planetary, Earth-observing, exploration and scientific” missions. The “indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity” (IDIQ) contract has tallied more than $1.4 billion in obligations since it was issued in 2010. SpaceX launches these satellites, which weigh at least 550 pounds, via its Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy Launch and (eventually) Starship spacecraft.
Launch Services for U.S. Space Force
The U.S. Space Force contracts with SpaceX to launch its satellites into orbit under the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 program. In 2025, the company was awarded $845 million for seven Lane 2 contracts, which are for risk-averse, heavy-launch missions. In 2024, SpaceX was also awarded $733 million in Lane 1 contracts, which fund “commercial-like missions” with a higher threshold for risk.
Starlink Government Contracts
Starlink, a satellite broadband network operated by SpaceX, has enough government contracts to warrant its own category. With more than 7,700 satellites in orbit as of June 2025, Starlink is becoming increasingly popular among defense and intelligence agencies.
According to a 2024 Reuters report, Starlink secured a classified $1.8 billion contract in 2021 from the National Reconnaissance Office — a U.S. intelligence agency responsible for overseeing spy satellites — to develop hundreds of these satellites under the company’s Starshield program. Starshield is a satellite network specially designed for military use cases, including the handling of encrypted communications.
In 2023, the U.S. Space Force also signed a one-year Starshield contract, with a potential value of up to $70 million.
That same year, the Department of Defense paid Starlink $23 million to provide one year of broadband service in Ukraine. SpaceX had already provided a free year of broadband service to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in 2022, but Musk said the service cost $20 million per month to maintain. In December 2024, the Pentagon expanded Starshield access to an additional 2,500 Starlink terminals in Ukraine.
In 2022, the Department of Defense signed an ordering agreement with Starlink for a Basic Agreement for Devices and Starlink Subscription (BADASS). The agreement does not have any obligations, but it has a potential award of $1 billion. The ordering period ends in 2027.
Tesla Government Contracts
Tesla doesn’t have any government contracts, but it does benefit from tax credits and other government subsidies that incentivize the production and purchase of electrical vehicles.
About a dozen states, most notably California, offer regulatory credits to automakers that meet certain EV production targets. Tesla only makes EVs, so it has a surplus of credits that it sells to other automakers that would otherwise be fined for not producing enough EVs. Tesla earned $2.8 billion from these credit sales in 2024 alone, and The Washington Post estimates the company has earned a total of $11.4 billion — roughly a third of its profits — from selling regulatory credits.
Tesla’s sales have also benefited from a $7,500 federal tax credit incentivizing consumers to buy electric vehicles. Musk has argued that Tesla does not need these tax credits as much as its competitors, and that eliminating them would solidify Tesla’s dominance in the EV market. Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is set to eliminate the tax credit at the end of September 2025, a move that could cost Tesla $1.2 billion per year, according to a reported estimate by JPMorgan.
xAI Government Contracts
In July 2025, the Department of Defense awarded xAI, Musk’s AI development company, a contract for up to $200 million as part of the agency’s efforts to incorporate artificial intelligence into its national security work. In announcing the contract, xAI also introduced Grok for Government, a suite of products promising custom AI models and applications for national security, scientific research and other governmental functions.
Controversies Surrounding Elon Musk’s Government Contracts
Musk’s Stint at DOGE
Musk’s government contracts came under heightened scrutiny after Trump appointed him to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which unilaterally canceled more than 10,000 federal contracts it deemed excessive or unnecessary.
Under Musk’s leadership, DOGE terminated contracts for countless vendors, but none for his own companies. In the meantime, he also leveraged his position in the Trump administration to pressure agencies into awarding contracts to his businesses. At the request of the DOGE team, the General Services Administration reportedly adopted Starlink broadband services in February 2025. Musk called for the FAA to adopt Starlink as well, which it has not done as of July 2025.
Incidentally, the Department of Justice dropped several lawsuits and investigations into both SpaceX and Tesla during Musk’s 130-day tenure at DOGE.
Musk’s fixation on excessive government spending is ironic, considering his companies’ successes have, at times, hinged on government contracts that were lenient in their requirements. For instance, when Tesla’s application for a low-interest loan from the Department of Energy was held up by a missing certification from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2008, Musk personally appealed to the head of the EPA for help, according to The Washington Post. The $465 million loan was granted in 2010, helping Tesla build a production facility, launch the Model S sedan and go public six months later. The company repaid the loan in 2013, nine years ahead of schedule.
False Promises
In some cases, Musk’s companies haven’t lived up to their promises. For example, The Boring Company approached five cities with proposals for underground public transit networks, only to back out when the cities tried to discuss logistics and formalize partnerships, according to The Wall Street Journal. What’s more, the company’s sole publicly accessible tunnel in Las Vegas doesn’t use autonomous vehicles (which were part of the initial plan) and is prone to the very traffic jams it was originally built to eliminate.
The vast majority of Musk’s government contracts are mutually beneficial, though: Government agencies provide contracts and subsidies to achieve an objective they are unable to reach on their own. While there are concerns about the government’s increasing reliance on SpaceX, the company has also helped NASA and other agencies expand their capabilities and reach new heights of innovation.
“The news these days is that we have $22 billion in government contracts,” SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell said in a panel discussion in 2024. “We earned that. We bid it. We were the lowest price — best bidder. We won, and we execute. It’s not a bad thing to serve the U.S. government with great capability and products.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money does Elon Musk get from the government?
An analysis by The Washington Post estimates Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits since 2003. This estimate doesn’t include classified contracts. The Post also estimates Musk’s businesses are on track to earn another $11.8 billion from 52 ongoing contracts over the next few years.
Which Musk companies have the most government contracts?
Of all Musk’s companies, SpaceX holds the vast majority of government contracts. SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell said in 2024 that the company holds $22 billion in government contracts.
Would Tesla survive without government subsidies?
Experts have said that Tesla depended on a low-interest, $465 million loan from the Department of Energy in the company’s early days. Now, roughly one-third of the company’s profits come from selling regulatory credits to other automakers, according to The Washington Post, so that would cause serious financial damage to the company. Additionally, JPMorgan estimates the expiration of the $7,500 EV tax credit in September 2025 could cost the company $1.2 billion a year, according to CNN.
Does the federal government have a contract with Starlink?
Yes, several defense and intelligence agencies have signed contracts to use Starlink’s satellite broadband network. Starlink has been used to provide broadband service in Ukraine after the Russian invasion. Starlink’s Starshield program also provides special military satellites used for gathering intelligence and encrypting classified communications.
How much does SpaceX get from the government?
SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell said in 2024 that the company holds $22 billion in government contracts.
