Trump touts private space, comments on 'amazing' SpaceX Falcon Heavy mission

Seated in front of replicas of American-made rockets in the White House's Cabinet Room, President Donald Trump on Thursday praised the advances spearheaded by private space ventures and chronicled his awe at SpaceX's recent launch of the three-core Falcon Heavy rocket.

"Before me are some rocket ships," Trump said during a cabinet meeting that focused primarily on economic issues and school safety. "You haven't seen that from this country in a long time."

On the mahogany conference table before him were three separate rocket families: A previous-generation SpaceX Falcon 9 topped with a Dragon spacecraft; a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing's Starliner capsule; and NASA's next-generation vehicle, the Space Launch System, which is still under development. 

Between Falcon 9 and Atlas V: A small replica of the International Space Station, which is slated to host crewed versions of the Dragon and Starliner capsules late this year or early next year.

[SpaceX launches Spanish satellite for 50th successful Falcon 9 mission]

[KSC firefighters threaten pickets, strike over proposed benefit cuts]

"Many of these jobs we’re doing are privately financed," Trump said. "Rich guys love rocket ships and that's good – that's better than us paying for them."

The president was referring primarily to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, but likely also Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose rocket company Blue Origin has already launched and landed its New Shepard vehicle and is developing a massive New Glenn rocket that will be assembled at Kennedy Space Center.

Both men have invested heavily in their respective visions of space, though SpaceX has been launching on contracted missions for several years. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, meanwhile, is expected to debut no sooner than 2020.

Those heavy investments and private sector efficiencies led trump to touch on pricing for launches, which he described as $80 million for "the last one."

"If the government did it, the same thing would have cost probably 40 or 50 times that amount of money," he said.

The 'amazing' Falcon Heavy mission

SpaceX's successful Feb. 6 debut of the 27-engine Falcon Heavy captivated millions around the globe, including 100,000 visitors to the Space Coast – and the president, who was particularly impressed by the tandem side core landings.

"To me, that was more amazing that watching the rocket go up. I've never seen that before – no one's ever seen that before," Trump said on the automated maneuvers performed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Landing Zone 1. "They landed so beautifully."

The 230-foot-tall rocket eventually delivered Musk's personal red Tesla Roadster to space on the second stage, which then hurtled it on a path toward the asteroid belt with the now-iconic "Starman" mannequin.

Musk believes landing – and subsequently reusing – spaceflight hardware is the key to lowering launch costs, increasing overall access to space and eventually establishing human settlements on Mars.

NASA makes an appearance

The president made sure to include NASA in his comments on American leadership in spaceflight, giving the agency credit for more long-term missions, such as crewed trips to Mars.

"At the same time, NASA is very much involved in doing their own projects," he said. "We'll be sending something very beautiful to Mars in the very near future."

Trump was likely referring to SLS for the red planet mission, which is ultimately a deep-space exploration program for the agency. The first uncrewed flight of the 322-foot-tall rocket is expected to launch from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39B no earlier than late 2019 and could potentially push into 2020.

"It’s really amazing what’s happening with regard to space and our country," Trump said.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook at @EmreKelly.

Next Space Coast launch: Monday, April 2

• Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9
• Mission: International Space Station resupply
• Launch Time: 4:30 p.m.
• Launch Window: Instantaneous
• Launch Complex: 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
• Weather: Forecast expected three days before launch