Elon Musk flies from San Jose to Hawthorne the week of SpaceX's Starship static fire

Elon Musk flew from San Jose to Hawthorne on May 28, 2026, a 57-minute hop aboard the Gulfstream G450 N450GG that touched down at Jack Northrop Field just before dawn. The short flight from Silicon Valley to the Los Angeles basin is a familiar route for the SpaceX CEO, whose primary residence remains a rented home near Starbase, Texas, but whose company maintains its design and manufacturing hub at Hawthorne Municipal Airport.

The trip lands the same week SpaceX is preparing for a static fire test of the Super Heavy booster at its Boca Chica facility, per space industry watchers and public FAA filings. The test, a key milestone ahead of the next Starship integrated flight, typically draws Musk to the company's California engineering center for final design reviews and launch campaign briefings. Hawthorne is where the Raptor engines and Starship upper stages are refined before shipment to Texas.

The May 28 arrival follows a series of back-and-forth flights between San Jose and Southern California in recent days, suggesting a working visit rather than a simple return to base. For Musk, who sold his California homes years ago and lives sparsely in Texas, the Hawthorne airport remains a de facto office doorstep—a place where the world's richest man can step off a Gulfstream and walk straight into a rocket factory.