Donald Trump Joins Elon Musk For SpaceX Rocket Launch | EUROtoday

President-elect Donald Trump joined mega-billionaire Elon Musk on the launch of his SpaceX Starship rocket Tuesday, a gathering that underscores the 2 males’s more and more shut relationship.

Trump attended Musk’s unmanned launch close to Brownsville, Texas, sporting his signature pink “Make America Great Again” hat. Ahead of his journey, he praised the SpaceX occasion on social media because the “launch of the largest object ever to be elevated, not only to Space, but simply by lifting off the ground.”

This is the sixth launch of Starship, the biggest rocket ever constructed.

Just months in the past, Musk took a backseat to the presidential election and mentioned he wouldn’t endorse a candidate, however he ditched these plans and publicly got here out in help of Trump in July, turning into one of many marketing campaign’s greatest donors. Now, he’s Trump’s decide to co-lead the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” ― a brand new advisory physique Trump says he’ll launch subsequent 12 months to streamline authorities operations and spending.

“It will become, potentially, ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time,” Trump mentioned in a press release, referring to the federal government program within the Nineteen Forties that created the primary atomic bomb.

Musk has been crucial of how lengthy it takes the Federal Aviation Administration to approve launch licenses, saying FAA head Michael Whitaker “needs to resign.” Whitaker has mentioned the delays are ties to issues about sonic booms from SpaceX launches ― one thing consultants say might trigger severe structural harm to houses within the densely populated communities close by the launch websites.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was additionally at Tuesday’s launch. He’ll be the following chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees space-related points.

“Just spectacular,” Cruz posted in regards to the launch on social media.