SpaceX’s Starship rocket completed its first successful return from space on Thursday, marking an important milestone in Elon Musk’s ambitious vision to send people to Mars.
This achievement came during the fourth test flight of the vehicle, a key element in SpaceX‘s goal to revolutionise space travel with reusable rockets.
The flight, despite not being a perfect success, demonstrated the potential of Starship to become the most powerful rocket ever built.
This progress could further transform the global space launch industry, which SpaceX already leads.
Officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are likely encouraged by this development, as the space agency plans to use a version of Starship for the Artemis III mission, which aims to land astronauts on the moon by late 2026.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX on X, the social media platform owned by Musk.
“We are another step closer to returning humanity to the Moon through #Artemis—then looking onward to Mars,” he stated.
The upper-stage Starship successfully reached space, travelled halfway around the world, endured the intense heat of re-entry, and made a planned water landing in the Indian Ocean.
Onboard cameras captured the vibrant glow of gases heating up as the vehicle descended.
Although there was some damage to a steering flap and a cracked camera lens at high altitude, the vehicle remained intact.