President Donald Trump awarded the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, during a ceremony at the White House on October 8, 2026. This prestigious honor recognizes significant contributions to science and engineering, and Musk was acknowledged for his "engineering achievements of extraordinary ambition and scale" that have propelled advancements in space exploration, communications, and technology.
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In addition to his role at SpaceX, Musk leads Tesla, owns the social media platform X, and founded several companies including the Boring Company, Neuralink, and xAI.
During the same ceremony, Trump also honored other distinguished individuals in technology and science. National Medals of Science were awarded to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices. Meanwhile, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation was presented to Michael Dell from Dell Technologies and Satya Nadella of Microsoft.
The National Medal of Science has been awarded since 1963, with its first recipient being mathematician and aerospace engineer Theodore von Kármán, known for his work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A total of 529 people have received the medal as of this award ceremony. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation, established in 1980, has recognized over 240 individuals for their innovative contributions.
Musk's relationship with the Trump administration dates back to late 2024, when he was appointed to help lead the "Department of Government Efficiency." Recently, he was also named co-leader of Project Meridian, a Pentagon initiative focused on preparing the U.S. for future warfare.