Elon Musk's Starship rocket, under Trump's eyes, ends up in the water after a failed maneuver

UNITED STATES – A splash and a flop. Under the eyes of Donald Trump, SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket this Tuesday, November 19, but had to give up trying to catch its first stage with mechanical arms, failing in this complex maneuver that it had nevertheless succeeded in last month. The craft ended up in the Gulf of Mexico, as you can see in our video at the top of the article.

The sixth test flight of this giant rocket took off at 4 p.m. local time (11 p.m. in Paris) from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. You can see pictures below of the President-elect of the United States arriving at SpaceX and then Elon Musk explaining to him how his rockets work. The two billionaires displayed their new closeness – and their interest in the conquest of space.

The president wore his iconic red cap, and Elon Musk said « honoré » of his presence. Then, Donald Trump was near the launch pad to witness the takeoff alongside the South African billionaire, aviator glasses on his nose and dressed all in black. He did not wear a MAGA cap (“Make America Great Again”, Trump’s slogan).

SpaceX aims to use Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, to colonize Mars. The development of the spacecraft is also closely monitored by NASA, which is counting on it to bring its astronauts back to the Moon. The objectives of this new test flight were largely similar to the previous one, in October.

Super Heavy and Starship ended up in the water

The rocket is made up of the Super Heavy first stage (70 meters high) and, above it, the Starship spacecraft (50 m), which by extension gives its name to the entire launcher. After propelling the ship, Super Heavy must detach itself from it and begin its descent onto the launch pad. In October, rather than ending his journey in the sea, he succeeded in the unprecedented maneuver.

This time, SpaceX announced shortly after takeoff that the criteria were not met to attempt this operation, and Super Heavy ditched in the Gulf of Mexico where it disintegrated. For its part, the Starship continued its flight, before landing in the Indian Ocean during the day, allowing precious images to be filmed for the first time. Failed attempts are common in the space industry, but this remains a semi-failure for Elon Musk who had impressed a month earlier.

The rocket must ultimately be fully reusable and that is why SpaceX is seeking to catch up on its first stage. This strategy aims to be able to launch more machines more quickly, and for much less money than if it was necessary to use new equipment each time.

“Elon, this is awesome”

During the October test, the rocket gained a new admirer in the person of Donald Trump. In his victory speech on presidential election night, he described watching the rocket being overtaken and thinking “in a movie”. “I called Elon. I said: Elon, was that you? He told me yes. I said: (…) Can Russia do it? No. Can China do it? No. Can the United States do it besides you? No “the president-elect enthused. “I said, that’s why I love you, Elon, that’s great. »

After the failure of the maneuver on Tuesday, Donald Trump did not comment on his social networks.

The boss of SpaceX spent tens of millions of dollars to support the Republican's campaign, and in exchange landed an advisory position – ignoring possible conflicts of interest, SpaceX having numerous contracts in progress with the American government.

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