The mega rocket is vital to Nasa’s plans for landing astronauts on the Moon later this decade – and Elon Musk’s hopes of eventually colonising Mars.
The world’s most powerful rocket Starship successfully blasted off on its third test flight Thursday, in a live-streamed event watched by two million people.
Lift-off from SpaceX’s Starbase in southeast Texas came around 8.25am local time.
The mega rocket is vital to Nasa’s plans for landing astronauts on the Moon later this decade – and Elon Musk’s hopes of eventually colonising Mars.
Two previous attempts have ended in spectacular explosions, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing: The company has adopted a rapid trial-and-error approach to accelerate development, and the strategy has brought success in the past.
When the two stages of Starship are combined, the rocket stands 121 metres (397 feet) tall – beating the Statue of Liberty by a comfortable 90 feet.
Its Super Heavy Booster produces 16.7 million pounds (74.3 Meganewtons) of thrust, almost double that of the world’s second most powerful rocket, Nasa’s Space Launch System though the latter is now certified, while Starship is still a prototype.
