Can Donald Trump and Elon Musk send UK space firms into orbit?
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Donald Trump’s return to the White House is ‘great news’ for Britain’s burgeoning space firms, according to a senior figure in the industry. The president-elect – who is close to space entrepreneur and Tesla boss Elon Musk – could increase spending in the sector in a move that would send ripples through the industry worldwide.
![[Blast-off: A Space X Falcon 9 rocket blasting off. The firm is now a leading designer, manufacturer and launcher of advanced rockets with a value of £275bn]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/13/21/94053751-0-image-m-3_1736804252090.jpg)
Musk – who has been dubbed Trump’s ‘first buddy’ – founded Space X in 2002 and it is now a leading designer, manufacturer and launcher of advanced rockets with a value of £275billion. Mark Boggett, chief executive of global space investment firm Seraphim Space, told the Mail that Musk’s position in Trump’s inner circle will ‘pay off well for the NASA budget’.
'He expects this to align with the tycoon’s ambition to ‘accelerate the path to getting man off planet Earth’. And the benefits of this ‘won’t just be limited to the US players,’ Boggett added. Boost: President elect Donald Trump, right, is close to space entrepreneur and Tesla boss Elon Musk, left.
Some of the world’s richest billionaires – including Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and British entrepreneur Richard Branson – are competing to send tourists into space with Musk, 53, even aiming to build a colony on Mars. But the space race also involves improving communications via satellite links, bolstering defences and increasing research into areas such as climate change.
