SpaceX tested its massive Starship rocket for the sixth time on Tuesday as President-elect Donald Trump watched alongside company CEO Elon Musk.
Starship launched from SpaceX’s headquarters, Starbase, in Boca Chica, Texas, at 5 p.m. ET. Musk, the world’s richest man, watched the test flight with Trump — whom Musk helped to elect by investing hefty sums of his own money into the Trump reelection effort and running significant portions of the campaign’s ground operation in swing states.
Trump announced his visit to SpaceX’s Texas headquarters in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform.
“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. Good luck to @ElonMusk and the Great Patriots involved in this incredible project!” Trump wrote.
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. Good luck to @ElonMusk and the Great Patriots involved in this incredible project! https://t.co/UVpVSkpEyu
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2024
The latest rocket test featured an updated propulsion system to the Super Heavy booster used to launch the rocket. The updates were supposed to ease the booster into the arms of “Mechazilla,” the launch pad that can double as a landing pad – provided the conditions are right. Weather conditions were not optimal on Tuesday, and SpaceX chose to have the booster fall offshore rather than attempt to catch it.
NEWS: Trump has officially arrived in Texas to watch @SpaceX's Starship launch today. He will be the first U.S. President, past or present, to attend a launch of Starship—the most powerful rocket ever built—in person. pic.twitter.com/CHmDKAWYQF
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 19, 2024
.@SpaceX Starship🚀🇺🇸🦅 pic.twitter.com/hiliGwkW9p
— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) November 19, 2024
On the previous Starship test flight in October, the SpaceX crew managed to “catch” Starship’s Super Heavy booster in Mechazilla’s arms. The historic effort was nearly aborted, according to SpaceX internal audio that Musk later posted online with gameplay of a videogame.
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“I want to be really upfront about scary s*** that happened,” a SpaceX engineer told Musk. “We had a misconfigured stem gas support that didn’t have quite the right ramp-up time for bringing up stem pressure, and we were one second away from that tripping and telling the rocket to abort and try to crash into the ground next to the tower.”
Watch the launch here:
The Daily Wire carries live coverage of SpaceX's sixth Starship test flight. Watch live and witness the next pivotal moment in space exploration. https://t.co/3PbFNC0umM
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) November 19, 2024