Elon Musk’s SpaceX has successfully performed another launch of its Starship rocket in front of President-elect Donald Trump, but the test flight did not go perfectly.

The 400ft (122m) high rocket system, designed to land astronauts on the moon and ferry crews to Mars, lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas.

The first stage, called Super Heavy, unexpectedly made a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico instead of attempting to return to its launchpad, indicating something went wrong.

Mr Trump’s appearance signals a deepening alliance with Mr Musk, who stands to benefit from his recent election victory.

The billionaire entrepreneur is expected to secure favourable government treatment, not only for SpaceX but also Tesla, and help his companies.

Mr Trump has also appointed Mr Musk as co-leader of a new government efficiency project.

After separating from the Starship second stage, the booster returned to Boca Chica in Texas, where it was supposed to be grabbed and clamped in place using what the company describes as “chopsticks”.

Arguably, they look more like massive pincers mounted on a huge steel tower.

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Booster catch was a ‘no-go’

But the booster catch was called off just four minutes into the test flight and the booster hit the water three minutes later.

“We are a no-go for tower catch,” said SpaceX, adding the ‘criteria’ was not met, although the firm did not specify what went wrong.

The Starship rocket also splashed down around an hour later, but this time in the Indian Ocean, off the northern coast of Australia.

It descended in a “belly flop” position before its central engines flipped it around.

Analysis: This is not the outcome any party wanted to see

Tom Clarke

Science and technology editor

@t0mclark3

Elon Musk will be very disappointed by the failure to catch the booster with Donald Trump watching on.

This was their moment to show their prowess in efficiency, reusability, the “fail-fast efficiency” that Donald Trump really wants his presidency to embody.

Donald Trump isn’t somebody who wants to be associated with things that don’t look brilliant or work amazingly.

Instead, Trump wanted to be associated with Musk’s glory and that hasn’t happened.

This was a flight test with a political moment tagged on to it and I think it will have been not the outcome that any party wanted to see.

Step towards moon trip

It was the sixth test for the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket that SpaceX and NASA hope to use to get astronauts back on the moon and eventually Mars.

Among the objectives for the test were igniting one of the engines in space and thermal protection experiments aboard the spacecraft.

SpaceX wants to eventually return and reuse the entire Starship, as full-scale recycling would drive down the cost of hauling cargo and people into space.

NASA is paying SpaceX more than $4bn (£3.1bn) to land astronauts on the moon via Starship on back-to-back missions later this decade.

As the two most powerful countries in the world, the relationship between the United States and China is the most consequential of all bilateral ties.

Any change in interactions and behaviour by either side does not just impact security, economic activity and trade in Washington and Beijing, but also affects the rest of the planet.

President Xi Jinping chose to make this point publicly as he said hello – and presumably goodbye – to Joe Biden when the two men met on the sidelines of an economic forum in Peru in what was likely their last face-to-face sit down before the US leader hands the keys to the White House over to Donald Trump.

“As two major countries, China and the United States should bear in mind the interest of the whole world and inject more certainty and positive energy into the turbulent world,” Mr Xi said, speaking through a translator.

“It is my consistent belief that as the world’s most important bilateral relationship, a stable China-US relationship is critical not only to the interests of the Chinese and American peoples but also to the future and destiny of the entire humanity.”

Mr Biden, whose relationship with his opposite number does not just span his four years as president but also when he previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, also focused on the importance of dialogue.

“We haven’t always agreed, but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank,” he said, sitting at a long table, surrounded by aides, with Mr Xi opposite him.

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“I think that’s vital. These conversations prevent miscalculations, and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict. Be competition, not conflict.”

While clearly directed at him, it is doubtful that Mr Trump will heed the advice.

He has consistently criticised the Biden administration for being too soft on Beijing and has vowed to be much tougher – even saying he would impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports.

The president-elect’s picks for top jobs in the White House, such as with China hawks Senator Marco Rubio as his desired secretary of state, and Representative Mike Walz as national security adviser, also point to a hardening in the US’ position on Beijing – which is on a trajectory to overtake Washington as the world’s number one superpower.

This moment of re-ordering in global dominance – something the UK was once forced to absorb when the sun set on the British Empire – is on course to happen regardless of who is in the White House.

But a more hostile and combative commander-in-chief in the White House makes it an increasingly perilous time for everyone.

It is perhaps why the current leaders in Beijing and Washington are so keen to stress that while their feelings towards one another go up and down, the ability to keep talking is critical.

Joe Biden has met with Xi Jinping for the last time as US president, where the Chinese leader said he is “ready to work” with Donald Trump.

Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, Mr Biden said the US and China’s relationship should be about “competition, not conflict”.

“We haven’t always agreed, but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank,” he said.

“We’ve never kidded one another. These conversations prevent miscalculations, and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict.

“We’ve been level with one another. I think that’s vital.”

Their last-ever meeting comes as president-elect Donald Trump vows to introduce blanket 60% tariffs on US imports of Chinese goods as part of a series of “America First” trade measures.

But despite Mr Trump’s proposed measures, Mr Xi said his country’s goal “of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship remains unchanged”.

“Our commitment to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and… cooperation as principles for handling China-US relations remains unchanged,” he added.

The Chinese president then said the country is “ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to strive for a steady transition”.

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Neither Mr Xi nor Mr Biden responded to a question about whether there were concerns about Mr Trump’s proposed tariffs.

The president-elect has also named several China hawks to his transition team, such as Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser.

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Under Mr Biden, Washington has introduced restrictions on US investment in Chinese artificial intelligence, quantum computing and semiconductors.

Former house speaker Nancy Pelosi also visited the island of Taiwan – which China views as a breakaway province – in April 2022.

In their meeting at this time last year – which followed a surge in tensions when an alleged Chinese spy balloon was shot down over the US – both leaders said direct communication between American and Chinese military forces would be restored.