November 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; President-elect Donald Trump speaks with Elon Musk (right) during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. mandatory
Brad Penner | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump Will participate in the launch of the SpaceX rocket Starship on Tuesday with the company’s CEO Musk.
Trump’s planned appearance at the news conference underscores his growing relationship with billionaire Musk, whose political action committee has heavily supported Republicans in recent elections.
Trump appointed Musk to co-lead the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Musk has been a near-constant presence at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida since Trump won the election, angering some within Trump’s team. NBC previously reported.
Tuesday’s launch from SpaceX’s Boca Chica Starbase will be the sixth launch of Starship, the largest rocket ever launched. The rocket is scheduled to lift off around 5 p.m. Eastern time.
SpaceX designed Starship as a new reusable vehicle for transporting cargo and people to places beyond Earth.
The company won a multibillion-dollar contract from the federal government to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander as part of NASA’s Artemis lunar program.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz also plans to attend Tuesday’s conference, NBC News has learned. Cruz is the incoming chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over space-related issues.
SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft is mounted on its powerful Super Heavy rocket and is preparing to launch on November 16, 2024 from the company’s Boca Chica launch pad near Brownsville, Texas, USA.
Joe Skipper | Reuters
SpaceX has received $19 billion from the federal government since 2008 and is expected to receive billions more annually in the coming years, according to a FedScout study of federal spending and major contracts.
The EPA previously found that SpaceX Violation of the Clean Water Act During previous Starship launches, they discharged high-temperature industrial wastewater at the launch facility without a permit.
Research An article published Monday in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America noted that the SpaceX Starship launch “exceeded projected maximum noise levels and produced a sonic boom so powerful that it had the potential to impact populations near the South Texas launch site.” Dense residential communities causing property damage”. Data report new york times.
SpaceX and Musk Before Trump was elected, he publicly criticized the Federal Aviation Administration, urging regulators to speed up Starship flight license reviews.
In September, Musk threatened to sue the FAA for “regulatory overreach.”
Representatives for SpaceX and Tesla CEO Musk did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on Tuesday.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
