Trump Reportedly Set to Attend Sixth SpaceX Starship Launch Today

Donald Trump is reportedly attending the highly-anticipated sixth trial motorboat of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, arsenic the president elite gets much chummy with rocket billionaire Elon Musk.

Starship is getting acceptable to alert for its sixth trial formation connected Tuesday. The rocket volition liftoff from SpaceX’s Starbase installation successful Boca Chica, Texas, with a 30-minute motorboat model that opens astatine 5 p.m. ET (you tin watch the motorboat unrecorded close here).

An anonymous root told Reuters that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued impermanent formation restrictions for “VIP Movement” implicit Brownsville, Texas, indicating that SpaceX laminitis and CEO Musk whitethorn beryllium joined by Trump astatine the motorboat tract arsenic the brace solidify their partnership. As Musk positions himself arsenic a faithful state to Trump, his enslaved with the president-elect could assistance his rocket institution further entrench its near-monopoly-like clasp connected the spaceflight industry.

Musk poured astir $120 cardinal into the predetermination campaign, doing his champion to assistance re-elect Trump for a 2nd term. In return, Musk has joined Trump successful meetings with satellite leaders (he joined Trump connected telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the time aft the election) and is anticipated to person large power implicit the president-elect’s decision-making process, peculiarly erstwhile it comes to abstraction policy. Musk has reportedly asked Trump to prosecute SpaceX employees arsenic apical authorities officials, according to The New York Times. The Trump medication could transmission much payer wealth toward SpaceX, further solidifying the company’s near-monopoly successful the spaceflight market.

Trump has besides named Musk to pb a authorities ratio drive, which is intended to dismantle bureaucracy and restructure regulatory bodies. As SpaceX strives to motorboat Starship connected a regular basis, Musk has incessantly complained astir regulatory restraints by the FAA that forestall him from flying his megarocket much frequently. Last month, SpaceX applied to modify its existing licence for Starship launches from the Boca Chica tract successful Texas, requesting that the FAA summation its motorboat and landing cadence up to 25 times per year. The FAA is evaluating SpaceX’s petition and analyzing the biology interaction Starship whitethorn person connected the motorboat site.

Tuesday’s motorboat volition spot SpaceX effort different booster drawback aft a groundbreaking 5th trial flight. Earlier successful October, Starship’s Super Heavy 232-foot-tall (71 meters) booster mildly came down towards a peculiar tower, named Mechazilla, which caught the rocket with its extended mechanical arms similar a elephantine brace of chopsticks. SpaceX is aiming to amended its megarocket’s reusability with each motorboat and hopes Starship volition beryllium acceptable to transport astronauts to the Moon arsenic portion of NASA’s Artemis 3 ngo successful September 2026.

Even earlier re-assuming his presumption arsenic president, Trump is establishing himself arsenic a rocket man, and his 2nd word is expected to shingle up spaceflight.