Did Elon Musk Seek Inspiration From 'The Dictator' For Starship Design? He Reacts

SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk's Starship is the world's most powerful space launch vehicle which is designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond, as per its website. Recently, a social media user claimed that the billionaire took inspiration from the movie 'The Dictator' to make the vehicle appear pointy. Now, Mr Musk has reacted to the same with a "100" emoji. 

"Just a reminder before the second launch of Starship: Elon Musk made the starship more pointy because of the movie 'The Dictator'," X user DogeDesigner posted. He also shared a video of the movie scene referenced in the post. Confirming the same, the billionaire replied with a "100" emoji which denotes "absolutely".

Notably, in 2021, Mr Musk spoke about the same on Joe Rogan's podcast. He referenced a scene in which Cohen's Admiral General Aladeen, the authoritarian ruler of the fictitious nation of Wadiya, examines the missile developed by his engineers. Aladeen is annoyed by the vehicle's head. "It is too round on the top. It needs to be pointy," the dictator told the head of his nuclear program, "Round is not scary. Pointy is scary," he said.

Mr Musk stated that Starship, the 165-foot-tall spacecraft, was also originally supposed to have a blunt head, however, he told his engineers to make the vehicle more pointy.

"You literally told them to make the Starship more pointy because of the movie 'The Dictator?'" Mr Rogan asked in the podcast. "Yep. And they know it, too. It's not like they're unaware of it. I thought it would be funny to make it more pointy, so we did," the billionaire replied. He stated that it does not give Starship  an aerodynamic edge and it is "arguably slightly worse," but "it looks cooler."

Since being shared, the user's post has amassed a lot of reactions from internet users.

"Elon Musk is the most creative man on earth," said a user.

"I don't care whether this is sarcasm; if this has even the slightest chance of truth, the thought of it is fantastic," said another person.

"My favorite quote from his first interview with Rogan. 'It's arguably worse'," a user wrote.

Another added, "Very funny story."