NASA stands by SpaceX, even as Musk’s troubles grow.

The future of Tesla may be imperiled by a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit that seeks to oust Elon Musk, the chief executive. But SpaceX, one of his other companies, has continued to garner support from its key customers, especially NASA, which can’t afford to see one of its main suppliers falter.

SpaceX has become vital to the space agency’s operations and also a key supplier to the Pentagon. The government has invested billions of dollars into SpaceX and relies on it to send science experts and cargo to the International Space Station, and to launch national security satellites used in modern warfare. By next year, SpaceX is poised to fly NASA’s most valuable assets — its astronauts — to space.

While once it was a scrappy startup that clawed and sued its way into the federal market, now it is a major federal contractor that is vital to the government’s space program. While Musk is chief executive (and “lead designer”), others at the company are in charge of day-to-day operations.

“There’s no alternative at this point to using a commercial company,” said Carissa Christensen, the chief executive officer of Bryce Space and Technology, a consulting firm. “NASA cannot magic up its own vehicle. It doesn’t have one.”

On Thursday, the SEC sued Musk and sought to ban him from leading any public company (SpaceX is private). The agency alleged that Musk lied to investors when he announced on Twitter last month that he had the funding secured to take Tesla private.

While all of that could prove to be devastating to Musk, SpaceX has continued to charge ahead. And its clients have stood by it.

In a statement, NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs said that the contracts the agency has awarded are to the company — not the man. And Jacobs said that NASA is “focused on successful commercial cargo and crewed missions to the International Space Station. Our contracts are with SpaceX and other commercial spaceflight companies.”