Trump joins Musk for launch of SpaceX’s Starship

Donald Trump joined Elon Musk for the launch of his SpaceX rocket in a sign of the growing partnership between the two men.
The president-elect travelled to Brownsville, Texas, to watch Mr Musk’s Starship take off from its launch facility.
Starship, which at roughly 400ft tall is the largest rocket ever built, launched at 5pm ET on its sixth test flight and splashed down in the Indian Ocean just over an hour later.
In the days leading up to the election, Mr Trump frequently marvelled at Mr Musk’s achievements in space.
At the previous Starship launch in October, SpaceX managed to catch the rocket’s booster in a pair of giant mechanical pincers, or “chopsticks”, as it returned to earth.
Mr Trump would often praise the achievement on the campaign trail in the days leading up to the election.
However, SpaceX said on Tuesday in the minutes following take-off that it would not attempt the same manoeuvre, citing the safety of the crew on the ground.
The booster, called “Super Heavy”, instead made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico near Mr Musk’s “Starbase”.
Nevertheless, the flight marked a series of firsts for SpaceX. It managed to ignite one of Starship’s “Raptor” engines in space for the first time, paving the way for the enormous rocket to reach a stable orbit around the earth.
The rocket was also carrying its “first-ever physical payload” – a banana, referencing a meme where internet users demonstrate the size of objects by comparing them to the fruit.
Starship is roughly the same size as a 30-storey building.
According to the SpaceX website, Starship will one day be able to “carry 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights”. It will also “help enable satellite delivery, the development of a Moon base and point-to-point delivery” on Earth.
Mr Trump was seen talking to Mr Musk multiple times ahead of the launch and during the test flight.
The SpaceX founder, who spent an estimated $200 million on the Republican’s re-election effort, has been a near-constant presence at his side since polling day, staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and travelling around the country with him.
“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,” Mr Trump wrote on social media earlier on Tuesday.
“Good luck to Elon Musk and the great patriots involved in this incredible project.”
Speaking after the launch, Mr Trump told the media he would not back down on his nomination of Matt Gaetz as attorney general despite disquiet from Republicans over allegations that the former congressman had slept with an underage schoolgirl.
Asked if he was reconsidering his Cabinet pick, Mr Trump replied: “No.”
Mr Gaetz has consistently denied the allegations.
Starships engines have reignited and it splashes down in the Indian ocean to cheers from the SpaceX control room. It appears to be on fire, which the SpaceX commentators attribute to the “lesser gen heat shield”.
Starship is now rapidly losing altitude and should be splashing down at any moment.
“Don’t be surprised if you see some wackadoo stuff here,” one of the SpaceX commentary says, adding that they are testing to see “what [Starship] can take”.
SpaceX has previously said it removed “entire sections of heat shield tiles” on either side of the rocket to “assess new secondary thermal protection materials”.
Starship has ignited one of its raptor engines in space for the first time. The development is significant because it paves the way for the rocket to ascend to a stable orbit.
SpaceX had previously attempted to ignite the engine on a launch in March but was forced to abandon this after losing control during coasting.
Starship is now in its coasting phase, meaning it has reached outer space but does not have enough velocity to enter a stable orbit around the Earth. SpaceX said before the launch that the rocket would splash down in the Indian Ocean around 6:30pm ET.
The Super Heavy booster has splashed down near the Gulf of Mexico.
Super Heavy initiates its landing burn and softly splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico pic.twitter.com/BZ3Az4GssC
Commentators on the SpaceX livestream are saying that they will not be able to catch its Super Heavy booster in its mechnical pincers, as they did last month. They suggest this would put the crew on the ground at risk.
At two minutes into its test flight, Starship has reached more than 4,000km an hour.
Starship has cleared the pad! Vehicle is on a nominal flight path
Starship has now launched, taking off from the SpaceX launch facility near Brownsville, Texas.
When Starship takes off in just a matter of minutes on its sixth test flight, it will be carrying first ever physical payload – a banana.
It is a reference to the “banana for scale” meme, where internet users demonstrate the size of objects by comparing them to fruit. Starship, which is roughly the same size as a 30-story building, is the largest rocket in history.
Starship is now just five minutes away from launch, according to SpaceX.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully caught a booster from its Starship rocket for the first time in a lift to humanity’s hopes of travelling to Mars.
The first-stage booster returned to the launch pad after the fifth test flight of the marquee rocket on Sunday.
The “super heavy booster” contains fuel to propel the 3,000-tonne rocket off the launchpad. After being emptied and detaching from the main body of the Starship rocket, the booster flew itself back to the launchpad where it was plucked out of the air by a set of giant mechanical fingers.
Read the full story by Joe Pinkstone from 13 October here.
Donald Trump has wished Elon Musk “good luck” ahead of the Starship launch, which is due to take place from around 5pm ET.
The president-elect wrote on social media: “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 Elon Musk and the Great Patriots involved in this incredible project.”
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
 
Hello and welcome to the live blog. Benedict Smith here. We’ll be bringing you all the updates as Elon Musk prepares to launch “Starship” on its sixth test flight, which is scheduled to take place around 5pm ET.
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