The US military has given Elon Musk’s SpaceX access to restricted space tracking data, raising a new round of questions about whether the Trump administration is attempting to hand over traffic control in Earth’s orbit to a controversial donor.

The access also raises new national security questions, industry observers say.

The move comes after Musk’s Doge in 2025 fired many of the federal government’s nascent space traffic control program’s staff, and the administration has twice attempted to financially gut the department, called the Traffic Coordination System for Space (Traccs).

The moves were widely viewed in the industry as an attempt by Musk to privatize space traffic control. The defense department has now granted SpaceX access to its most precise data on potential collisions among satellites and other space objects, which will give Musk’s companies an advantage over competition that offers a similar service.

Read more: US military gives Elon Musk’s SpaceX access to sensitive tracking data