Musk to launch SpaceX Starship rocket with Trump at his side

The president-elect travels to Texas pinch SpaceX CEO to watch nan latest trial of nan billionaire’s Starship rocket.

Elon Musk, nan world’s richest man, launched nan sixth trial of his SpaceX rocket pinch United States President-elect Donald Trump joining him to watch.

Trump and Musk travelled to Brownsville, Texas, connected Tuesday to be nan motorboat of nan elephantine Starship rocket astatine SpaceX’s trial tract successful adjacent Boca Chica.

The rocket lifted disconnected soon aft 5pm (23:00 GMT), astir an hr down schedule. But SpaceX chose to abort a planned effort to drawback nan first-state booster of nan rocket utilizing nan ‘chopstick’ technique, alternatively allowing it to autumn into nan ocean.

The past Starship trial formation successful October made headlines aft nan Super Heavy booster made a stunning return to nan motorboat tract wherever it was captured midair by a brace of elephantine mechanical “chopstick” arms attached to SpaceX’s motorboat tower.

Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/rSLQ2DDy63

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 19, 2024

Trump’s attendance is portion of a growing enslaved pinch Musk – nan proprietor of SpaceX, nan electrical carmaker Tesla and nan social media level X – who is simply a beardown governmental supporter, having spent adjacent to $130m to thief get nan erstwhile president re-elected.

Trump was expected to beryllium joined by his boy Donald Jr and Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

Starship, nan largest rocket ever built, is designed to beryllium a reusable conveyance for flying cargo and group beyond Earth.

Musk’s changeless presence

Trump’s beingness astatine nan motorboat is “another illustration of Musk’s expanding domiciled successful Trump’s orbit”, according to a study by CNN.

Since Trump won nan US November 5 statesmanlike election, Musk has been a changeless beingness astatine nan president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago property successful Palm Beach, Florida.

He has counselled Trump connected nominees for nan caller management and joined nan president-elect’s telephone telephone pinch Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Musk besides flew pinch Trump for a gathering pinch Republicans from nan House of Representatives successful Washington, DC past Wednesday, and joined him for nan Ultimate Fighting Championship astatine Madison Square Garden successful New York connected Saturday.

Trump has precocious rewarded Musk for his governmental support by appointing him, on pinch Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, to counsel nan recently created Department of Government Efficiency pinch a ngo to slash authorities spending.

“Importantly, we will thrust retired nan monolithic discarded and fraud which exists passim our yearly $6.5 Trillion Dollars of Government Spending,” Trump said successful a connection astir nan appointment, 1 of his first aft winning nan election.

Musk’s businesses could use personally from his adjacent ties pinch Trump. SpaceX – which has among its goals to eventually commencement a colony connected Mars – has billions of dollars successful authorities contracts. The billionaire has besides battled pinch US national regulators complete information concerns involving autonomous driving, which is disposable successful his Tesla electrical vehicles.

“Trump has nan biggest imaginable respect for group who break nan rules and get distant pinch it,” said William Galston, a elder chap successful governance studies astatine nan Brookings Institution, told The Associated Press news agency.

“Musk has demonstrated bonzer accomplishment successful doing that.”

Not ever friends

The 2 person not ever been that close, however. Trump utilized to mock Musk successful his predetermination speeches and Musk had erstwhile said it was clip for Trump to “hang up his chapeau & sail into nan sunset” because he was excessively aged to beryllium president.

But that changed aft Trump survived an assassination attempt successful nan lead-up to nan election. Musk endorsed Trump and became a cardinal fig connected nan Republican run trail.

Trump moreover started to talk astir Musk’s abstraction accomplishments while campaigning. He was intrigued erstwhile Starship’s reusable rocket booster returned to nan motorboat building and was caught by mechanical arms.

“Did you spot nan measurement that sucker landed today?” Trump asked nan crowd astatine a governmental rally aft that Starship test.

So far, location are nary indications that nan relationship forged during nan predetermination is astir to cool.

Last week, Musk was a impermanent of honour astatine a black-tie arena held astatine Mar-a-Lago.

Trump, successful his remarks that night, said Musk’s IQ was “about arsenic precocious arsenic they tin get” and praised him arsenic “a really bully guy.”

Musk was past invited to speak to nan crowd.

“The nationalist has fixed america a instruction that could not beryllium much clear,” Musk said of nan predetermination results, sounding much for illustration Trump’s moving mate than a buddy.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies