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SpaceX conducted the sixth flying trial of its massive spaceship rocket on Tuesday afternoon , and although the company did not replicatethe history - making booster catch , the ship’s company did receive a very special guest : President - elect Donald Trump .
Trump , who will soon be sworn into office for his second terminal figure , said on Xthat he was headed to Texas to watch “ the launching of the largest physical object ever to be elevated , not only to Space , but merely by arise off the earth . ”
His sojourn is just the late sign of a develop intimacy between himself and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk , who was of late appointed to point , along with enterpriser Vivek Ramaswamy , a new createdDepartment of Government Efficiency part ( DOGE ) . It ’s undecipherable how much power the power will have ( it seem to be strictly advisory ) , but gauge by Musk ’s public say-so , it could help to show in wide - sweep changes to major federal government programs .
Trump ’s sojourn was also a mansion of encouragement for SpaceX ’s Starship programme , which the company says has been handicap byexactly the type of government inefficienciesMusk is attend to thresh with DOGE — specifically , the slow turnaround times for launch license approving by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration .
Trump has say that he wants to enable SpaceX to reach Mars before the end of this term — which could theoretically be potential , given that the next Mars - Earth transference windowpane is in 2026 — and essentially give his blessing to Musk ’s Mars stargaze : “ Get going , get that starship going , Elon,”he tell at an October 24 rally .
Tuesday ’s flight of steps test , the 6th in the Starship development program , did not have any spectacular surprises or disappointment . The company was planning on attempting to charm the 233 - foot - tall Super Heavy booster with arms of the monumental launch tower , as it did during the fifth mental test in October , but the company said that the takeoff booster did not pass the “ commit criteria ” call for for the mission director to empower the endeavor . alternatively , the booster shot splashed down in a designated area in the Gulf of Mexico .
SpaceX achieved at least one young milestone during this test : The upper stage of Starship , which is also ring Starship , reignited one of its engines in space for the first time . It ’s a capability that will be key to enabling reuse of the upper point in scope , in addition to the booster .
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SpaceX has made speedy progress in its Starship exploitation computer programme since plunge the first fully integrate Eruca sativa for the first time in April 2023 . The nigh 400 - foot - improbable fomite is a cornerstone of the company ’s design to transmit work party and freight to interplanetary destination , and also to NASA ’s plans to return human beings to the synodic month for the first clip since the Apollo era .
Rewatch the launching here .
