At SpaceX's Latest Launch, Musk Seeks Approval From Trump That Biden Didn't Give

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday attended Elon Musk's SpaceX 'Starship' rocket launch at the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The Republican's visit comes days after he and his billionaire backer attended a UFC match together in New York. Musk has been attending meetings at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and accompanying him to the Capitol Hill. Tuesday's test didn't seem just about the rocket launch - it was also about who was watching. President-elect Trump, his son Don Jr and granddaughter witnessed the sixth flight attempt. However, the audience couldn't see a full show. Operators decided the criteria were not met for the tower to catch the booster. Instead the booster splashed down in the water off Texas.Read More: Just before the launch, Musk could be seen explaining the machine's working to Trump. "It's using its entire body as a brake, and then it's using these flaps to control its position - to try to achieve roughly a 70 degree angle," the Tesla and SpaceX boss said. Donald Trump responded with a question, asking if 'that controlled by computer or by man?' "Computer [...] It's falling down like this, so it's like a skydiver, basically," Musk said.

Is Musk Seeking Approval From Trump That Biden Didn't Give?In his four-year term, Biden hardly mentioned Elon Musk or his SpaceX mission. Back in 2020 when he was VP, the Democrat congratulated NASA and SpaceX for the successful launch of the Crew Dragon capsule, the first manned space mission to take off from US soil since 2011. However, President Biden and VP Kamala Harris remained silent after SpaceX conducted its first all-civilian mission to space. Musk then pointed out: "The President of the United States has refused to even acknowledge the 4 newest American astronauts who helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for St. Jude."Read More: “He’s still sleeping," the billionaire added on X, platform formerly known as Twitter. Donald Trump, on the other hand, seems far more supportive of Musk and his space missions. During his victory speech on November 5, the president-elect said: "The people from North Carolina came to me and they said, 'Would it be at all possible for you to speak to Elon Musk? We need Starlink,' I said, 'What's Starlink?'"Trump said he then asked Musk, "What the hell is it?""He said, 'It's a communication system that's very good.' I said, 'Elon, they need it really, really badly in North Carolina. Can you get it?'" Trump added.Donald Trump has time-and-again praised Musk, echoing the SpaceX boss' Mars ambitions, describing the Moon as a "launching pad" for reaching the Red Planet.