Space X’s Starship has splashed down for a “soft landing” in the Indian Ocean – a success after previous attempts ended in spectacular explosions.
Elon Musk‘s company upgraded software and made other changes for this fourth attempt, which blasted off from Texas for a half lap around the planet.
The billionaire posted on social media: “Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!”
Starship is the world’s largest and most powerful rocket at nearly 400ft (121m) tall.
The first-stage ‘Super Heavy’ booster successfully detached and landed in the Gulf of Mexico three minutes after lift-off of the unmanned test.
Starship then fired up its engines for a flight around the globe.
About an hour later, it began its crucial re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere: this time there was no catastrophic failure, as occurred at this point in March, and it landed in the sea as planned.
Starship made a brief journey into space
Mission control in California erupted in…
