Trump heads to Texas: Unexpected guest at tomorrow's giant rocket launch

Former president plans to watch worlds biggest rocket test-launch after growing closer to tech billionaire. Recent election victory brings new focus to private space-flight future

November 19 2024 , 08:31 AM  •  355 views

Trump heads to Texas: Unexpected guest at tomorrow's giant rocket launch

In a surprising turn-of-events Donald Trump plans to watch tomorrows Starship rocket launch‚ marking the growing bond between the president-elect and tech mogul Elon Musk. The FAA set-up temporary flight rules over the Texas facility that match the launch time - while Trumps Mar-a-lago restrictions got a brief pause

The connection between these two high-profile figures grew stronger after Musk put roughly $200M into helping Trumps campaign win key states. Since the election results came in about two weeks ago‚ the SpaceX boss has been right there: staying at Trumpʼs place joining meetings in DC and even watching UFC fights together

SpaceXʼs business moves are getting bigger too - their shares might sell for $135 each which puts the companyʼs worth at $250B (thats $40B more than just 5 months ago). The mega-rocket launch happening at 5pm eastern time tomorrow will be test number six for this super-tall spacecraft

Local issues have come up though. The launches make huge sonic booms that could hurt buildings near the site‚ and its like standing next to a jumbo-jet for people living 6 miles away (as one engineer pointed out). Some nature groups say these test-flights are messing up the local wildlife areas - the rocket is as tall as a 30-floor building after all