The rocket carrying the Starship spacecraft was launched from SpaceX’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas at 4 p.m. on November 19 (local time). The rocket is about 122 meters tall and is designed to take astronauts to the Moon and Mars.
“I’m heading to Texas to watch the launch of the largest object ever put into space, not just lifted off the ground,” President Trump wrote on social media and wished billionaire Musk luck before the launch took place.
Billionaire Elon Musk used a model to explain to President-elect Donald Trump about the tests that would take place. President Trump then joined Mr. Musk and several assistants and officials to watch the launch of the spacecraft in the outdoor area.
Before the launch, Musk outlined some of the core goals of the test, including restarting the Starship’s engines mid-flight and landing it in the ocean during the day. “We also tested thousands of small design changes,” Musk said.
The launch was SpaceX’s sixth test flight of its Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built and central to Elon Musk’s goal of sending humans and cargo to Mars.
President Trump’s attendance at the Starship launch shows the close relationship between the President-elect and billionaire Musk.
Elon Musk is also one of the most prominent supporters of President Trump’s campaign. The billionaire has appeared with President-elect Trump at rallies and spent millions of dollars to support him.
President-elect Donald Trump recently tapped billionaire Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the Government Efficiency Council, an agency tasked with cutting unnecessary regulations, reducing wasteful spending, and restructuring federal agencies.
SpaceX expects the Starship program to make rapid progress during President Trump’s second term. The company hopes to use Starship to soon launch more Starlink communications satellites into orbit and carry NASA astronauts to the moon under the Artemis program.
The effort is expected to involve more missions to Mars, while also boosting the role of SpaceX and Elon Musk in President Trump’s space plans.
