SpaceX鈥檚 mega Starship rocket completed its first full test flight Thursday, returning to Earth without exploding after blasting off from Texas.
It was the fourth launch of the world鈥檚 biggest and most powerful rocket, standing nearly 400 feet (121 meters) tall. The three previous flight demos . This time, the rocket and the spacecraft managed to splash down in a controlled fashion, making the hourlong flight the longest and most successful yet.
鈥淒espite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!鈥 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said via X.
Starship was empty as it soared above the Gulf of Mexico and headed east on a flight to the Indian Ocean. Within minutes, the first-stage booster separated from the spacecraft and splashed into the gulf precisely as planned, after firing its engines.
The spacecraft reached an altitude of nearly 130 miles (211 kilometers), traveling at more 16,000 mph (26,000 kph), before beginning its descent. Live views showed parts of the spacecraft breaking away during the intense heat of reentry, but a cracked camera lens obscured the images.
The spacecraft remained intact enough to transmit data all the way to its targeted splashdown site in the Indian Ocean.
It was a critical milestone in the company鈥檚 plan to eventually reuse the rocket that NASA and Musk are counting on to get humanity to the moon and then Mars.
鈥淲hat a show it has been,鈥 SpaceX launch commentator Kate Tice said from Mission Control at company headquarters in California.
SpaceX came close to avoiding explosions in March, but lost contact with the spacecraft as it careened out of space and blew up short of its goal. The booster also ruptured in flight, a quarter-mile above the gulf.
ended in explosions shortly after blasting off from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. The first one cratered the pad at Boca Chica Beach and hurled debris for thousands of feet (meters).
SpaceX upgraded the software and made some rocket-flyback changes to improve the odds. The Federal Aviation Administration signed off Tuesday on this fourth demo, saying all safety requirements had been met.
Starship is designed to be fully reusable. That鈥檚 why SpaceX wants to control the booster鈥檚 entry into the gulf and the spacecraft鈥檚 descent into the Indian Ocean 鈥 it鈥檚 intended as practice for planned future landings. Nothing is being recovered from Thursday鈥檚 flight.
The latest test 鈥渕ade major strides鈥 toward that goal, the company said on its website.
NASA has ordered a pair of Starships for , on tap for later this decade. Each moon crew will rely on NASA鈥檚 own rocket and capsule to leave Earth, but meet up with Starship in lunar orbit for the ride down to the surface.
SpaceX already is selling tourist trips around the moon. The , a Japanese tycoon, pulled out of the trip with his entourage last week, citing the oft-delayed schedule.
SpaceX鈥檚 founder and CEO has grander plans: Musk envisions fleets of Starships launching people and the infrastructure necessary to build a city on Mars.
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