The founder of SpaceX said President Trump had asked his company to return two astronauts aboard the space station to Earth “as soon as possible.” NASA said it would do that “as soon as practical.”

The president’s Inaugural Address linked landing on the Red Planet with Manifest Destiny, but left many of the specifics unclear.

While Elon Musk’s spaceflight company repeated a spectacular catch of its powerful booster stage, the upper stage experienced a catastrophic malfunction.

His cozy relationship with Chinese leaders and reported contacts with Russian officials is a cause for alarm.

Employees of SpaceX have filed a formal petition to create the city of Starbase. Its first mayor would be a security manager for the company.

Federal agencies have opened at least three reviews into whether the company and its leader complied with disclosure protocols intended to protect state secrets, people with knowledge of the matter said.

It is unclear where the program to go back to the lunar surface will head after President-elect Donald J. Trump returns to the White House in January.

© Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mr. Isaacman’s company Shift4 Payments made him a billionaire, and he has financed two trips to orbit on SpaceX vehicles, including a daring spacewalk in September.

© Polaris Program/SpaceX, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images