SpaceX mega rocket completes fourth test flight without exploding, bringing Musk closer to Mars
- The previous 3 test flights ended in explosions of the rocket and the spacecraft. This time, both managed to splash down in a controlled fashion
SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket survived re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday and splashed down in the Indian Ocean as planned during its fourth test mission after launching from south Texas.
The two-stage spacecraft, consisting of the Starship cruise vessel mounted atop its towering Super Heavy rocket booster, broke apart during its last attempt in March to survive a blazingly hot re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere.
But the craft survived its re-entry on Thursday, a SpaceX livestream showed.
“Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on social media after the splashdown.
Starship, stacked atop its Super Heavy booster, blasted off Thursday morning from the company’s Starbase launch site near Boca Chica Village on the Gulf coast of Texas. It is the latest trial mission in the test-to-failure rocket development campaign of Elon Musk’s company.
