SpaceX successfully launched the largest and most advanced version of its Starship rocket on Friday during its 12th test flight, marking another milestone in billionaire Elon Musk’s ambitions for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
The third-generation spacecraft, known as Starship V3, lifted off from Starbase in southern Texas shortly after 5:30 p.m. local time after an earlier launch attempt was delayed due to technical issues.
Standing more than 407 feet (124 meters) tall when fully stacked, the latest Starship model is the biggest version ever built by SpaceX and one of the tallest rockets in history.
The test flight lasted nearly an hour, with the spacecraft traveling toward the Indian Ocean before erupting in flames during its planned splashdown. Despite the dramatic ending, SpaceX engineers celebrated the mission, describing the launch as another successful step in the rocket’s development program.
“You scored a goal for humanity,” Musk wrote on X following the test.
The launch comes just days after Musk announced plans to take SpaceX public in what analysts predict could become one of the largest initial public offerings in history.
Starship is central to NASA’s future deep-space ambitions under the Artemis Program, which aims to return humans to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. NASA is relying on SpaceX to develop lunar landing systems for future astronaut missions.
Ahead of the launch, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman expressed optimism about the spacecraft’s progress, saying the agency hopes to eventually rendezvous with Starship in Earth orbit as part of future lunar exploration missions, dw.com reports.
NASA is also funding Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, to develop competing lunar landers as the United States races to return astronauts to the Moon before China launches its own crewed lunar mission, targeted for 2030.
