Donald Trump has spoken publicly for the first time since rumours began swirling about his health.

The president used the highly anticipated press conference to announce a new billion dollar project for military operations in space.

His plan is for a new US Space Command Headquarters to be built in the city of Huntsville, Alabama, which will be nicknamed ‘Rocket City’.

Trump also used the media question and answer session to slap down the ‘fake news’ conspiracies about his death.

Donald Trump arrived 40 minutes late to the press conference before confirming his intention to relocate the Space Command HQ from Colorado to Huntsville.

He told reporters: ‘We were losing the race in space very badly to China and to Russia, and now we’re far and away number one in space and re-establish Space Force with a mission to protect American space assets and detect any threat to our homeland.’

‘This will result in more than 30,000 Alabama jobs, and probably much more than that.

‘Most importantly, this decision will help America defend and dominate the high frontier, as they call it.’

The Space Command, established by Trump in his first term, is responsible for military operations beyond Earth’s atmosphere and defending U.S. satellites from potential threats.

Trump also used the press conference to clear up the ‘crazy’ rumours about his health over the weekend.

He told reporters he had heard about the speculation, which he called ‘fake news’.

He added:  ‘Last week I did numerous news conferences, all successful. 

‘I did not do any for two days, and they say there must be something wrong with him.

‘Biden wouldn’t do them for months, you wouldn’t see him, and no one ever said there must be something wrong with him.

He went on: ‘I was very active over the weekend.’

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It only took a handful of explosions – and the kind of budget that could bankroll a small nation – but on the 10th attempt, Elon Musk’s Starship finally launched.

SpaceX’s rocket – the billionaire’s big bet on colonising Mars – departed from south Texas at around 7.30pm local time on Tuesday, after a long year of crashes.

The giant 403-foot-tall system launched into orbit before deploying eight dummy satellites.

Parts of the engine appeared to explode at one stage, and flaps on the side of the rocket caught fire and swung from side-to-side.

Ignoring the mishaps, Musk posted on X: ‘Great work by the SpaceX team!!’

Much is riding on its success, particularly after three Starship launches ended in failure this year, and one rocket exploded on the launch pad in June.

Musk has previously said every Starship test flight costs between $50 million to $100 million (£37 million to £74 million), making a small dent into his fortune.

NASA picked Starship to put its first astronauts on the moon’s surface since the Apollo program.

And Musk sees Starship, designed to be fully reusable, as core to fulfilling his goal of routinely ferrying humans to Mars.

The CEO said on Monday on a SpaceX live strea: ‘There are thousands of engineering challenges that remain, for both the ship and the booster, but maybe the single biggest one is the reusable orbital heat shield.’

The mission concluded with a steady, engine-guided vertical landing on the Indian Ocean’s surface, west of Australia.

The Starship then toppled over before exploding into a giant fireball, an expected demise likely triggered by its flight termination system.

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It’s a once-in-a-lifetime sight.

‘We could get evidence of actual first contact by Christmas.’

Nasa will closely monitor the asteroid.

A year on the alien world is only a few Earth days.

A year on the alien world is only a few Earth days.

Is there life on Mars?

President Donald Trump said he had a ‘great relationship’ with Elon Musk but ‘I don’t know if we will anymore’.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were sent into rehab to recover from the painful effects of prolonged low-gravity.

The peak time to see the Milky Way Galaxy in the US lasts about 10 days.

The Sun is very busy right now, as it’s at the peak of its 11-year cycle.

The full Flower moon visible in the early morning sky (Picture: Shutterstock)

May’s full moon – known as the ‘Flower Moon’ – dazzled people across the UK last night.

Also referred to as ‘Planting Moon’ …

Kosmos 482 has been orbiting Earth for over 50 years, but all things come to an end

The space shuttle may no longer be in active service, but you can keep the dream alive with a new Lego set that features two separate vehicles.

‘Mars is life insurance for life collectively.’

Scientists have also calculated an exact date it could hit.

Well this is a head scratcher.

Don Pettit had been on the International Space Station for 220 days.

‘It tells us that the planet was habitable.’