One large step: Elon Musk's Starship returns to Earth without exploding bring a return to the Moon closer

6 June 2024, 16:18 | Updated: 6 June 2024, 16:47

Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket has returned to Earth without exploding after completing its first full test flight - bringing humans one step closer to returning to the Moon.

The three previous launches ended in failure as each rocket exploded. This time, however, both managed to splash down in a controlled fashion.

SpaceX founder and billionaire Elon Musk said the launch was an “epic achievement” as the rocket returned back into the planet’s atmosphere.

“Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean,” Mr Musk said.

NASA congratulated SpaceX on Starship's successful flight and hailed the launch as another step closer to returning humanity to the Moon - "then looking onward to Mars".

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The world's largest and most powerful rocket - almost 400ft tall - was empty as it soared above the Gulf of Mexico and headed east on a flight to the Indian Ocean earlier today.

Minutes after Thursday morning's lift-off, the first-stage booster separated from the spacecraft and splashed into the gulf precisely as planned, after firing its engines.

An hour later, live views showed parts of the spacecraft breaking away during the intense heat of re-entry, but it remained intact enough to transmit data all the way to its targeted splashdown site in the Indian Ocean.

"And we have splashdown!" SpaceX launch commentator Kate Tice announced from Mission Control at company headquarters in California.

It was a critical milestone in the company's plan to eventually return Starship's Super Heavy booster to its launch site for reuse.

This time, SpaceX is looking to avoid explosions by controlling the descents. SpaceX came close in March, but lost contact with the spacecraft as it flew out of space and blew up short of its goal.

The booster also ruptured in flight, a quarter of a mile above the Gulf.

Last year's two test flights ended in explosions shortly after blasting off from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. The first one left a crater in the pad at Boca Chica Beach and threw debris for thousands of feet.

SpaceX upgraded the software and made some rocket-flyback changes to improve the odds.

The Federal Aviation Administration signed off on Tuesday on this fourth demo, saying all safety requirements had been met.

Starship is designed to be fully reusable, which is why SpaceX wanted to control the booster's entry into the Gulf and the spacecraft's descent into the Indian Ocean - it is intended as practice for planned future landings. Nothing will be recovered from Thursday's flight.

NASA has ordered a pair of Starships for two moon-landing missions by astronauts later this decade. Each moon crew will rely on NASA's own rocket and capsule to leave Earth, but meet Starship in lunar orbit for the ride down to the surface.

SpaceX is already selling tourist trips around the moon. The first private lunar customer, a Japanese tycoon, pulled out of the trip with his entourage last week, citing the oft-delayed schedule.

SpaceX's founder and chief executive has grander plans: Mr Musk envisions fleets of Starships launching people and the infrastructure necessary to build a city on Mars.