Nicki Minaj makes surprise appearance at Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starbase

American rapper Nicki Minaj turned heads on Thursday with an unexpected visit to Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas, where the company attempted to launch its latest Starship V3 rocket.

The 43-year-old “Starships” singer was seen at the launch site wearing a SpaceX Starship-branded T-shirt and appeared on camera during the live webcast of the event.

She described the moment as “historic” and told hosts it was her first time witnessing a rocket launch in person.

The Starship V3, SpaceX’s newest iteration of its heavy-lift rocket, was scheduled for liftoff from the Boca Chica launch site. The launch was highly anticipated, as the upgraded vehicle is designed to support future missions, including rapid satellite deployment and crewed lunar flights.

However, the launch was scrubbed at the last minute due to a technical issue in the final countdown. Engineers cited problems that could not be resolved in time, and SpaceX said it would attempt another launch on Friday.

Minaj’s presence quickly became a trending topic on social media, with fans noting the ironic connection between her song “Starships (Were Meant to Fly)” and the rocket launch.

SpaceX’s Starship programme aims to cut launch costs and enable missions beyond low-Earth orbit, including crewed lunar landings under NASA’s Artemis programme and future expeditions to Mars.

Thursday’s cancelled launch is the latest in a series of test flights as engineers continue to work on making Starship a fully reusable heavy-lift rocket system.