SpaceX, which Elon Musk founded in El Segundo, California, in 2002, launched its mega rocket Starship again on Tuesday night – only for it to explode and fall to bits
Elon Musk admitted he has “probably spent a bit too much time on politics” after SpaceX saw its mega rocket Starship explode again on its latest test launch.
The billionaire was grilled by reporters following the latest hapless test mission, which resulted in the rocket tumbling out of control and breaking apart. On its ninth demo, the 403-foot (123-metre) rocket blasted off from the Texas base, only for it to experience “a rapid unscheduled disassembly” – and burst apart.
Speaking after the latest demo, Mr Musk said: “I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics,” a telling 13-word comment in reflection on his time as Donald Trump’s senior advisor. Last month, Mr Musk, 53, conceded his time in this capacity would have to reduce fo he can concentrate on other projects.
And these may include his SpaceX work as the Starship is yet to successful take off. The entrepreneur continued: “It’s less time than people think (on politics), because the media is going to over-represent any political stuff, because political bones of contention get a lot of traction in the media.
“It’s not like I left the companies. It was a relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I’ve reduced that significantly in recent weeks.”
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Fuel leaks reportedly caused the explosion on the rocket’s latest test mission. It slammed into the Gulf of Mexico in pieces, further than previous attempts had reached.
Nevertheless, SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said: “Not looking great with a lot of our on-orbit objectives for today.” The company said in an online statement: “Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test.”
It is another blow for Mr Musk, who founded SpaceX in El Segundo, California, in 2002. He spoke to US TV station MSNBC after the latest setback, and the cable network has shared snippets of the interview on social media.
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Last week, Mr Musk confirmed he will also invest less in political campaigns despite being Mr Trump’s senior advisor since the world leader returned to power. The tech billionaire said: “I think I’ve done enough. In terms of political spending I’m going to do a lot less in the future.”
His firm, SpaceX must make major strides over the next year with Starship — the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built — in order to land astronauts back on the moon. Next year’s moonshot with four astronauts will fly around the moon, but will not land. That will happen in 2027 at the earliest and require a Starship to get two astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back off again.