SpaceX is undoubtedly leading the charge in terms of the commercial space industry, helping the likes of NASA ferry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) while also aiming to usher in a new era of space tourism. South African born Elon Musk, the billionaire behind SpaceX, has had an on-off relationship with President Trump, serving on the tycoon’s business advisory councils when he was first elected to office.
However, Mr Musk withdrew from his position when President Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2017.
But the pair seem to have patched up their differences, with President Trump praising the billionaire, who also fronts Tesla.
President Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen at the World Economic Forum: “You have to give him credit. I spoke to him very recently, and he’s also doing the rockets.
“He likes rockets. And he does good at rockets, too, by the way. I never saw where the engines come down with no wings, no anything, and they’re landing. I said, ‘I’ve never seen that before.’”
The President also vowed to protect Mr Musk, but was not clear on who he was protecting him from.
The 73-year old said: “I was worried about him because he’s one of our great geniuses.
“You know, we have to protect Thomas Edison, and we have to protect all of these people that came up with originally the light bulb and the wheel and all of these things.
“And he’s one of our very smart people, and we want to cherish those people.”
President Trump said they have a mutually beneficial relationship, with Mr Musk bringing thousands of jobs to America.
He said: “[Musk’s] going to be building a very big plant in the United States. He has to because we help him so he has to help us.”
Towards the end of last year, President Donald Trump established the US’s Space Force which he said was to counter Russian and Chinese developments in space tech by implementing “a state-of-the-art framework for space traffic management”.
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A report from the US Department of Defense says the Space Force would be “to deter and if necessary degrade, deny, disrupt, destroy, and manipulate adversary capabilities to protect US interests, assets, and way of life.”
This would include anti-satellite weapons, communications jamming technologies, and enhancements to the U.S. radar and GPS systems.
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