SpaceX satellite launch contract with NASA is aimed to monitor bodies of water, the first of its kind to survey the surface of the Earth. However, President-elect Donald Trump is suggesting budget cuts on NASA's programs, which could mean loss of revenues for SpaceX and potentially derailing CEO Elon Musk's ambitious project of colonizing Mars.

SpaceX just won a NASA contract to launch the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, which will ride on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and take off at the Vandenburg Air Force base in California. The $112 million dollars SWOT satellite will bring the very first global survey of the earth's surface, which will measure the oceans and monitor how bodies of water change in given periods of time, as reported in engadget.

SWOT will cover at the minimum 90 percent of the world, which will be measured twice very 21 days. It will not be limited to the oceans, but will also monitor rivers, lakes and reservoirs. NASA is also tasked to oversee freshwater resources globally to help enhance predictions on weather and climate, CNBC reported.

However, Trump has other suggestions, which is to cut the budget of the space agency and relegate it to only space explorations. The SWOT and other similar Earth Science projects will be transferred to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), prompting alarm in SpaceX that satellite launch demands may decline or disappear altogether.

SpaceX launch satellite contracts provide revenues for the firm along with other projects with government and the private sector. The firm is still recovering from its recent launch disaster in September when their Falcon rocket exploded along with the $300 million dollars satellite.

The said satellite was commissioned by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to bring internet services to Africa.The SpaceX launch satellite contract like NASA's SWOT may be the last for the firm with Trump's new directives, placing the ambitious plans of Musk to colonize Mars in jeopardy.

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