Billionaire Elon Musk has had a tumultuous relationship with his father, Errol Musk. However, the father and son had a reunion last week. The two met after a gap of seven years at the launch of the Starship.
The Starship Aircraft and rocket, collectively referred to as Starship, is a reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to the Mars.
The launch of its Super Heavy rocket on Saturday has been described as "incredibly successful" by Space X. It was the first time it managed to go into space even though it exploded eight minutes after lift-off.
Since the previous attempt had not been much of a success, the family came together to lend their support. Elon's father came to witness the launch with his ex-wife Heide, and his granddaughter Cora at Boca Chica, Texas.
Speaking about the reunion, Heidi told The Sun. "The family cried. It was pretty emotional stuff. Errol was very happy to see Elon, and Elon appeared very happy to see his father."
She added that the two sat down and spoke as if nothing had happened and no time had passed since they last met. She described the moment as "touching".
The reunion comes as a surprise since the father-son duo have been quite vocal about their strained relationship. In an interview broadcast earlier this year on Australia's "The Kyle and Jackie O Show," Errol said he is not proud of his billionaire son.
When he was asked whether he was proud of his 51-year-old son, Errol replied: "No, well, you know, I mean, we are a family that have been doing a lot of things for a long time. It's not as though we suddenly started doing something."
Errol has three children from his first wife, Maye Musk: Elon, Tosca, and Kimbal. He added that the three of them had travelled the world with him when they were little. "They've seen a lot of things, and we've done a lot of things together," he said, adding: "But Elon has in fact sort of really surpassed the mark."
He also spoke about how his son is unable to enjoy his success because he "feels like he's behind schedule".
"Where he is now, he would have liked to have been there five years ago," the elder Musk added. He spoke about how his son wanted to launch SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft a long time ago.
He also told the radio show that he is, in fact, worried about the SpaceX CEO not being able to find a life partner who would give up her career for him.
"He (Elon) has to find a woman to give up what she's doing, and that's not easy," said Errol. The Tesla CEO has several children from four different women but is currently single.
