Felix Auger-Aliassime hilariously gives Elon Musk 'FAA approval' for Starship SN9 flight test

Elon Musk
Elon Musk

Canadian tennis player Felix Auger-Aliassime can hit volleys not only on the tennis court but also on social media, as he proved by giving a tongue-in-cheek response to Elon Musk on Twitter earlier this week.

Elon Musk is the man behind SpaceX, Tesla Inc. and other ground-breaking companies, who recently became the world's richest person. On Tuesday, Musk responded to a post on Twitter that the Starship SN9 had passed the initial pressure test but that SpaceX was awaiting approval from the FAA - short for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2020
Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2020

Auger-Aliassime, who spent part of the off-season training at Rafael Nadal's academy in Spain and goes by the moniker of 'FAA' in tennis circles, responded to Musk's tweet, jokingly saying "Approved".

Felix Auger-Aliassime is ranked No. 21 in the ATP rankings, and is widely considered to be one of the best young prospects in the men's game. The 20-year-old has reached 6 ATP singles finals in his short career so far, in addition to winning the Paris Masters doubles title last year.

Besides his rising tennis profile, the Canadian has also launched the #FAAPointsForChange initiative to support the protection and education of children from Togo - the country where his father originated.

Elon Musk and the Starship SN9

Elon Musk
Elon Musk

The 49-year-old Elon Musk is a multi-faceted inventor, often described as 'a genius', who co-founded SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company.

Musk is also the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, the American electric vehicle and clean energy company.

As the lead designer at SpaceX, Elon Musk oversees the development of rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and to other planets. SpaceX is currently developing Starship – a fully reusable transportation system that aims to carry crew and cargo to the moon and to Mars.

Elon Musk is also the CEO of Neuralink, an neurotechnology company founded by himself and others, which is in the process of developing implantable brain–machine interfaces (BMIs).

One of the other projects Musk has launched is 'The Boring Company', an American infrastructure and tunnel construction services organization whose current and proposed projects are designed for loop intra-city transit systems.

Earlier this month, Elon Musk become the world's richest person, with his net worth crossing $185 billion after a surge in the stock price of Tesla. Musk displaced Amazon founder Jeff Bezos from the top of the richest person's list.

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