Elon Musk has threatened the head of Russia’s state space agency with a rap battle, continuing the long-running rivalry between the SpaceX CEO and the Roscosmos head.
Earlier in June, scientists in the Siberian city of Tomsk launched a figurine of Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin into space in a red sports car in what seemed like a sarcastic reaction to SpaceX’s triumphant Falcon Heavy launch in 2018.
Musk soon took to Twitter to respond to an article about the Russians’ mock launch with his characteristically zany humor: “Don’t make me challenge you to a rap battle!”
Twitter users were quick to react this time around, instantly assuring Musk that a rap battle would indeed be epic to witness. Some questioned whether his opponent would be Rogozin or the Tomsk scientists behind the launch.
Roscosmos has developed an informal rivalry with SpaceX as Russia’s status as a cosmic superpower has faded, with Musk featuring as a central character in the world of Russian memes ever since.
In March, Rogozin congratulated Musk on the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, and Musk in return explained that “he had always admired Roscosmos’ rocket/spacecraft technology.”
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