Billionaire investor Elon Musk’s private space exploration company SpaceX’s sixth test flight of the Starship rocket made records despite a failed booster catch. SpaceX sent the giant rocket into space on November 19 from Boca Chica, Texas. Importantly, President-elect Donald Trump and Musk himself were present to visualize the newsworthy launch.
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The rocket made successful advancements in spaceflight capabilities, such as reigniting one of its six Raptor engines in space for the first time. The rocket even finished one full orbit of the Earth before returning and diving into the Indian Ocean. Having said that, the plan to catch-land the Super Heavy booster by tower-mounted arms (chopsticks) failed, and instead, the booster plunged into the Gulf of Mexico. The success of making the boosters reusable depends on them being caught while landing. Notably, SpaceX was able to make a successful booster catch-land during its fifth test flight, which means it is not an impossible task.
Musk’s Mars Travel Plans Depend on Trump
Musk expects his Mars mission to be expedited under Trump’s administration. The Mars mission is set to accelerate through NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to resend astronauts to the lunar surface soon. Musk has grown weary of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) delays in approving commercial spaceflight and launches. However, Musk’s close ties with Trump seem to be already working in his favor since the FAA quickly approved the sixth Starship launch in just over a month from the last one.
NASA has planned to use SpaceX’s Starship Spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the Moon’s surface from the lunar orbit. The reignition of one of the engines in space during the sixth test flight is proof that Starship could be onboard for the Artemis program. SpaceX’s ambition to reuse parts of the booster and the spacecraft is an important element in making space travel affordable.
Musk must be excited about the new milestones Tuesday’s test flight made. Last Friday, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell announced that the company targets to launch as many as 400 Starships over the next four years. With each successful test flight, Musk’s vision of making space travel frequent and affordable in the future seems to be drawing closer. Remarkably, Trump’s presidency is set to benefit Musk and all of his ventures, including electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA), which has already seen its stock price surge over 40% since the results of the elections on November 5. Trump has also appointed Musk as the head of the newly created “Department of Government Efficiency,” (DOGE) alongside entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Is Tesla a Good Stock to Buy?
Despite all the good news related to CEO Musk, Wall Street prefers to remain on the sidelines on Tesla shares amid intense competition in the EV market. On TipRanks, TSLA stock has a Hold consensus rating based on 11 Buys, 14 Holds, and nine Sell ratings. The average Tesla stock price target of $232.64 implies nearly 32% downside potential from current levels. Year-to-date, TSLA stock has gained 37.7%.
