Elon Musk launches Starship test flight with Donald Trump watching
Texas launch signals deepening alliance between next U.S. president and world's richest man
Elon Musk's SpaceX launched its sixth Starship test flight to space on Tuesday from Texas, eyeing an array of improvements on the rocket as U.S. president-elect Donald Trump watched in person.
The roughly 122-metre-tall rocket system, designed to land astronauts on the moon and ferry crews to Mars, lifted off at 4 p.m. CT from SpaceX's sprawling rocket development site in Boca Chica, Texas.
The first stage, called Super Heavy, unexpectedly made a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico instead of attempting to return to its launchpad, indicating something went wrong.
Starship, in space, will travel around Earth for a planned daytime splashdown in the Indian Ocean some 90 minutes later.
Starship last month demonstrated the novel catch-landing method for the first time, achieving a key milestone in its reusable design. Tuesday's catch-landing was expected to be "faster/harder," Musk wrote on social media before the launch.
Alliance with Trump deepening
Trump's attendance signals a deepening alliance with Musk, who stands to benefit from Trump's election victory, with the billionaire entrepreneur expected to wield extraordinary influence to help his companies and secure favourable government treatment.
Musk, the world's wealthiest person, was a prominent supporter of Trump's presidential election campaign, appearing with him at rallies and backing him with at least $119 million US in political support.
"I'm heading to the Great State of Texas to watch the launch of the largest object ever to be elevated, not only to Space, but simply by lifting off the ground," Trump wrote on social media, wishing Musk luck on the launch.
Trump on Nov. 13 appointed Musk as co-leader of a new government efficiency department that the SpaceX founder has said will rid wasteful federal spending, and regulations he has called burdensome.
SpaceX has billions of dollars in government contracts and the goal of eventually starting a colony on Mars. He's also CEO of Tesla, which manufactures electric vehicles, and has battled with regulators over safety concerns involving autonomous driving.
"Trump has the biggest possible regard for people who break the rules and get away with it," said William Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank.
"Musk has demonstrated extraordinary accomplishment in doing that."
To top if off, Musk owns the social media company X, formally known as Twitter, which he has harnessed as an influential perch to promote Trump and his agenda.
"Stop the Swamp!" he wrote on Tuesday, as he shared a warning that entrenched Washington interests are trying to undermine Trump before his inauguration.
Trump has not gone anywhere without Musk in the two weeks since beating Democratic candidate and U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris. Musk joined Trump at a meeting with House Republicans in Washington and sat next to him at an Ultimate Fighting Championship match in New York.
The trip to Texas for the rocket launch will be Trump's third time outside Florida since the election.
Trump and Musk were not always close
The relationship between Trump and Musk was not always so close. Two years ago, Trump was mocking Musk in stump speeches and Musk was saying it was time for Trump to "hang up his hat & sail into the sunset."
"Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America," Musk wrote on social media.
But Musk swiftly endorsed Trump after the former president survived an assassination attempt in July. He quickly became a central figure in Trump's orbit, appearing at times more like his running mate than Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
Trump started boasting about Musk's accomplishments at campaign rallies, such as when Starship's reusable rocket booster returned to the launch tower and was caught by mechanical arms.
Musk was with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort on election night and has spent much of the two weeks since there. Trump's granddaughter Kai Trump posted a photo of her with Musk at one of Trump's golf resorts, writing that Musk was "achieving uncle status."
Last week, Musk appeared in a golden ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, seated in the centre of the room as a guest of honour at an event. Trump, in his remarks at the black-tie event, said Musk's IQ is "about as high as they can get" and praised him as "a really good guy."
He joked about Musk's constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, saying, "He likes this place. I can't get him out of here."
He added, "And you know what, I like having him here."
Musk was so heralded by Trump's crowd that he was invited to speak on stage at the event after Trump, in which he spoke of the president-elect's victory like he was his running mate.
"The public has given us a mandate that could not be more clear," Musk said of the election results.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's regulation of commercial rocket launches has been a source of frustration for Musk, who has complained that the agency impedes his company's progress in getting to Mars.
But the FAA's licence approval of Tuesday's Starship launch — a little over a month after the rocket's previous flight — was its quickest regulatory turnaround yet for SpaceX, as the agency develops new launch-approval processes meant to keep pace with the U.S. space industry's growth.
SpaceX is eyeing swift advances in Starship development during a second Trump administration. The administration's space agenda is expected to give NASA's Artemis program, which is due to return astronauts to the lunar surface, a greater focus on the more ambitious goal of landing people on Mars.
With files from The Associated Press