SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket survived reentry through Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday 6 June 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.
Starship Thursday morning blasted off 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.