Director-General of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin has opened up about his favourite tea. The personal moment came after Space X CEO Elon Musk inquired about his tea preferences. As it so happens, the Russian space agency chief's first pick is a Soviet-era Indian-style tea, which also, according to Rogozin, happens to be his grandmother's favourite tea.
The "tea" conversation began after Rogozin shared an article on CNN via Twitter, where he said that he is opening the doors of his home to Musk. In the interview, published earlier this week, Rogozin said the teakettle is already being heated up, prompting Musk to wonder what Rogozin's favourite tea is.
Rogozin is known for his rivalry with Musk, which often takes the form of sarcastic banter on Twitter. Their "rivalry" technically started in 2020, when Musk ridiculed Rogozin for the latter's 2014 comments about sending NASA astronauts to the International Space Station via a trampoline. Six years later Musk and NASA launched the first commercial rocket to send humans into orbit. "The trampoline is working", Musk said at the time.
In 2020, Rogozin accused SpaceX of predatory pricing for space launches, pushing Russia to cut its own prices. Musk responded to the criticism by saying on Twitter that SpaceX rockets were 80% reusable, while "theirs are 0%", adding that was the actual problem. Rogozin fought back saying that SpaceX's low pricing was only possible due to lavish funding from the Pentagon.