Donald Trump and Elon Musk watched SpaceX launch its powerful new rocket from Texas, a sign of the president-elect's interest in a vehicle at the heart of Musk's ambitions for space exploration.
SpaceX launched another Starship around 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the sixth time it has tested the vehicle in flight.
One mission objective was attempting to catch the booster, called Super Heavy, as it did during a test mission last month. Shortly after liftoff, the company decided against the attempt and the booster instead landed in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a SpaceX livestream.
Trump and Musk grew close during the president-elect's successful campaign, with the president-elect touting SpaceX rockets during rallies and speeches. Trump has said he wants Musk to launch a mission to Mars during his second term, and Musk recently said SpaceX plans to mount uncrewed flights to the red planet in 2026.
NASA, meanwhile, has committed to spend more than $4 billion to have SpaceX use Starship landers to transport astronauts down to the lunar surface on two future missions under its Artemis exploration program.
SpaceX has made advancements with Starship on each mission it has flown, and wants to launch the vehicle more frequently during Trump's second term. Gwynne Shotwell, the company's president, said at an investor event last week she wouldn't be surprised if it conducted 400 Starship launches over the next four years.
"Good luck to @ElonMusk and the Great Patriots involved in this incredible project!" Trump said in a post on X Tuesday afternoon, as he traveled to Texas for the flight.
Before the launch, Trump and Musk spent time visiting the mission control room and discussing the flight. Other elected officials, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Trump advisers, such as Donald Trump Jr.were also in attendance.
Starship consists of the Super Heavy booster with the Starship spacecraft stacked on its top. The spacecraft, designed to one day carry cargo or astronauts, separates from the booster shortly after liftoff to fly on its own while the booster returns to the launchpad.
In October, SpaceX pulled off an engineering milestone by catching the booster using "chopsticks" -- two metal arms jutting off a tower that closed around the vehicle as it landed on them. The catch provided an early glimpse of how SpaceX is pushing to make Starship reusable.
Before Starship is ready for missions with cargo or crew, SpaceX's engineers and technicians must wrestle with many obstacles before it flies as the company envisions. One example: showing Starship spacecraft can be refueled in low-Earth-orbit, an operation that would permit deeper journeys.
"A fully reusable rocket with orbital refilling is the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary," Musk said Tuesday in a post on X.
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