SpaceX Starship Launches From Texas as Donald Trump Looks On

Elon Musk treated Donald Trump to quite the show Tuesday ... as SpaceX's Starship megarocket blasted off into space in an attempt to make a perfect landing back on the launchpad ... though they both had to settle for saltwater splash-downs.

The biggest rocket ever made launched from the company's Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas for Starship Flight 6 ... in a test to see if both stages of the spacecraft -- the Super Heavy booster and the Starship capsule -- would return safely back to Earth ... and Trump had a front-row seat.

After blasting off and travelling into space, the Super Heavy booster essentially flew in reverse back to Earth -- it was supposed to be "grabbed" by the launch and catch tower's "chopstick" arms, but it instead landed in the Gulf of Mexico. A couple minutes into the mission, SpaceX had announced a "no go" for the attempted booster catch. The booster was meant to be reusable, but won't be since it landed in saltwater, which it's not designed to withstand.

Meanwhile, the Starship capsule -- which was sent into space by the Super Heavy booster, and will be used to ferry astronauts to the moon, and ultimately Mars, according to Musk -- made a successful controlled descent into the Indian Ocean.

While orbiting the Earth, the Starship capsule successfully reignited one of its Raptor engines ... a first for the mission.

Elon has polarized folks in this country with his involvement in American politics ... backing Trump and then bringing the President-elect to Tuesday's launch ... but there's no denying Musk runs a company with some pretty ingenious innovations.