SpaceX Achieves Stunning Comeback with Successful Starship Rocket Launch
SpaceX has completed a successful test flight of its newest generation rocket Starship, breaking a string of disappointing failures.
The world's largest and most powerful rocket took launch from Texas shortly after 18:30 local time (23:30 BST) for a tense 60-minute flight.
Parts of the engine looked to erupt at one point, and the rocket's side flaps caught fire and swung from side to side.
NASA intends to use Starship to deliver humans to the Moon in 2027 as part of its Artemis programme.
"Great work by the SpaceX team!!", SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X.
He will celebrate the victory after three Starship launches failed this year and one rocket exploded on the launch site in June.
Starship is the most massive and powerful rocket ever built. It consists of the spacecraft Starship and a booster dubbed Super Heavy.
The indicators were encouraging from the outset of Tuesday's test flight. All 33 of the booster's engines burned, and after about seven minutes, it detached from the spaceship and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.
The starship proceeded to soar, reaching a height of nearly 200 kilometres above Earth before coasting around the planet.
SpaceX stated that it aimed to stress test the rocket's limitations, and pieces of the rocket's flaps seemed to burn and swing violently during the fall.
Starship was created with the goal of becoming a totally reusable transportation system capable of transporting people to the Moon and Mars.
The initial version of the rocket had five successful launches; however, all attempts to launch the most recent version resulted in a spectacular explosion.
One explosion halted flights in March, causing debris to shower down over the Bahamas and land in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean.
However, SpaceX successfully executed the "chopstick" manoeuvre that caught the rocket booster in mechanical arms when it returned to Earth.
In June, a Starship rocket burst on the launch pad in Texas while being prepared for a test flight.
NASA, the United States space agency, is also playing with enormous stakes. It has contracted SpaceX to deploy a modified version of Starship to send humans to the Moon as part of its Artemis mission in 2027, but most analysts believe that date will be pushed back.
Mr Musk hopes to have Starship licensed for human travel as soon as next year, and he has hinted that unmanned flights to Mars will begin within the following year.
SpaceX's motto has been "fail fast, learn quickly." Rather than being cautious, it has always strived to advance swiftly, and when rockets explode, the corporation claims it is simply an opportunity to collect performance data.
However, following three consecutive failures this year, questions were raised about SpaceX's future and whether Mr Musk had been spending too much time on US politics.
The world's richest man was a significant supporter of US President Donald Trump throughout the 2024 election campaign, and the two were close allies until a falling out in June.
The starship returned to Earth beaten and bruised on Tuesday, but it was a significant step forward for the business, which wants to demonstrate its ability to safely and consistently transport humans to the Moon.
The world's largest and most powerful rocket took launch from Texas shortly after 18:30 local time (23:30 BST) for a tense 60-minute flight.
Parts of the engine looked to erupt at one point, and the rocket's side flaps caught fire and swung from side to side.
NASA intends to use Starship to deliver humans to the Moon in 2027 as part of its Artemis programme.
"Great work by the SpaceX team!!", SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X.
He will celebrate the victory after three Starship launches failed this year and one rocket exploded on the launch site in June.
Starship is the most massive and powerful rocket ever built. It consists of the spacecraft Starship and a booster dubbed Super Heavy.
The indicators were encouraging from the outset of Tuesday's test flight. All 33 of the booster's engines burned, and after about seven minutes, it detached from the spaceship and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.
The starship proceeded to soar, reaching a height of nearly 200 kilometres above Earth before coasting around the planet.
SpaceX stated that it aimed to stress test the rocket's limitations, and pieces of the rocket's flaps seemed to burn and swing violently during the fall.
Starship was created with the goal of becoming a totally reusable transportation system capable of transporting people to the Moon and Mars.
The initial version of the rocket had five successful launches; however, all attempts to launch the most recent version resulted in a spectacular explosion.
One explosion halted flights in March, causing debris to shower down over the Bahamas and land in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean.
However, SpaceX successfully executed the "chopstick" manoeuvre that caught the rocket booster in mechanical arms when it returned to Earth.
In June, a Starship rocket burst on the launch pad in Texas while being prepared for a test flight.
NASA, the United States space agency, is also playing with enormous stakes. It has contracted SpaceX to deploy a modified version of Starship to send humans to the Moon as part of its Artemis mission in 2027, but most analysts believe that date will be pushed back.
Mr Musk hopes to have Starship licensed for human travel as soon as next year, and he has hinted that unmanned flights to Mars will begin within the following year.
SpaceX's motto has been "fail fast, learn quickly." Rather than being cautious, it has always strived to advance swiftly, and when rockets explode, the corporation claims it is simply an opportunity to collect performance data.
However, following three consecutive failures this year, questions were raised about SpaceX's future and whether Mr Musk had been spending too much time on US politics.
The world's richest man was a significant supporter of US President Donald Trump throughout the 2024 election campaign, and the two were close allies until a falling out in June.
The starship returned to Earth beaten and bruised on Tuesday, but it was a significant step forward for the business, which wants to demonstrate its ability to safely and consistently transport humans to the Moon.