President-elect Donald Trump attended the latest launch of Elon Musk’s Starship on Nov. 19 in South Texas. Reports and speculations emerged earlier about Trump’s attendance. According to The Associated Press, the Federal Aviation Administration issued temporary flight restrictions over Brownsville and Boca Chica for a VIP visit. That restriction coincided with the SpaceX launch window. Trump confirmed his attendance in a post on X on Nov. 19, saying: “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!”
He was expected to be joined by his son, Donald Trump Jr., and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), according to two people familiar with the president-elect’s plans who spoke to Reuters earlier. Trump has been an outspoken fan of Musk’s Starship. He devoted time to Joe Rogan’s podcast and several campaign rallies to recount his experience watching the live feed of the latest launch, which included the first time the returning booster was caught by the gantry’s giant arms. “Did you see the way that sucker landed today?” Trump asked the crowd at a political rally last month.
Tuesday’s launch is another attempt to catch the booster while the orbiting section of the spacecraft splashes down in the Indian Ocean. This was SpaceX’s sixth Starship launch from the expanding Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Musk’s 400-foot rocket is being designed to be fully reusable and transport people and supplies to the moon and Mars, and there is hope at SpaceX that further development will be completed during Trump’s next term. “We just passed 400 launches on Falcon, and I would not be surprised if we fly 400 Starship launches in the next four years,” SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said at the Baron Investment Conference in New York last week, according to Reuters.
The launch attendance appears to be a continuation of several days of a deepening public relationship between Trump and Musk, who has been officially named one of the two leaders of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk was with Trump on election night and joined him in meeting with Republicans on Capitol Hill. Musk also joined Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and several others for the UFC fight in New York last weekend.
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