Nicki Minaj stole the spotlight on Thursday when she made an appearance during SpaceX’s live Starship Flight 12 webcast from the company’s Starbase facility in Texas.
The rapper-turned-MAGA-influencer appeared on the livestream segment, where she directly addressed SpaceX founder Elon Musk. In her short statement, she offered praise and gratitude for the Tesla co-founder, encouraging her fanbase to support him.
“Elon, thank you for everything you are doing for humanity,” Minaj said on-air, going on to shoutout the Barbz while telling them to tune into future SpaceX launches. Her cameo quickly became one of the most talked-about moments of the broadcast, with her presence overshadowing much of the technical commentary leading up to the launch attempt.
The interaction came just as SpaceX was preparing for the 12th test flight of its Starship program, a milestone mission for the company’s next-generation V3 spacecraft. However, the launch never materialized. In the final minute of the countdown, SpaceX aborted liftoff due to a technical issue, halting what had been a highly anticipated debut.
The company later announced the launch would be rescheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. EDT. SpaceX commentator Dan Huot noted during the broadcast that the team was still adapting to the new system.
“New rocket, new pad, we’re learning a lot about these new systems as we execute them for the first time,” Huot said, adding that another attempt would likely follow within 24 hours.
Minaj went on to post some more content about the launch to her profile on X, reposting a video of her appearance and adding a rocket emoji. She posted another clip doing a ‘fit check to the tune her collaboration with Justin Bieber, “Beauty and a Beat,” bragging that she, “Even did a lil video for the Barbz” while at the Starbase.
It’s currently unclear whether or not Nicki will attend the rescheduled launch.
