The SpaceX Starship, a futuristic craft designed to send astronauts to the moon and beyond, roared into the sky from Texas late yesterday, a third test launch for Elon Musk's firm that has carried it farther than two past flights that ended in explosions.
The two-stage rocketship blasted off from Starbase launch site near Boca Chica on the Gulf Coast of Texas, on an uncrewed flight to space. It executed a key stage-separation maneuver nearly three minutes later, 72 kilometers in altitude.
The ship was coasting in space after lifting off and was to begin reentry 50 minutes into the mission. At press time, SpaceX confirmed that it had lost Starship although its company representatives still regarded the test as a huge success.
