By Wonderwall.com Editors
5:00pm PDT, Mar 19, 2024
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SpaceX's Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, launched from the coast of South Texas just after 8:25 a.m. Central Time on Thursday, March 14, embarking on its most ambitious — and successful — test flight yet.
The massive rocket reportedly reached space before beginning its re-entry about an hour later. Live video of the launch ended as the spacecraft broke up during its descent rather than splashing down in the Indian Ocean as planned, the company said. SpaceX owner Elon Musk and NASA administrator Bill Nelson still praised the flight as a success, with Musk's company citing multiple technical achievements as "milestone" progress over the vehicle's first and second test flights.
Starship's first test flight ended in an explosion 24 miles above the Gulf of Mexico in April 2023, The New York Times reported. In November, SpaceX launched the rocket again with more success, notching a longer flight before the spacecraft exploded.
NASA intends to use Starship to return astronauts to the moon as part of its Artemis program. Musk has said his dreams for the project are "multiplanetary."
Posting on X after Thursday's flight, he proclaimed, "Starship will take humanity to Mars."
Keep reading for more details and photos, then click through to see pictures from Starship's previous test flights …
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The SpaceX Starship Flight 3 Rocket launches at the Starbase facility outside Brownsville, Texas, on March 14, 2024. The operation is SpaceX's third attempt at launching this rocket into space. The Starship Flight 3 rocket is the world's largest rocket launched into space and is vital to NASA's plans for landing astronauts on the Moon and Elon Musk's hopes of eventually colonizing Mars.
MORE: NASA Crew-7 astronauts return to Earth in SpaceX Dragon Capsule
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The SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024. The Starship mega rocket was "lost" during re-entry through Earth's atmosphere during its third test flight, the company said in a webcast.
"We are making the call now that we have lost ship 28," an announcer said during a live stream.
MORE: NASA unveils new supersonic X-59 aircraft: All the best pictures
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The SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024. SpaceX on Thursday carried out the third test launch of Starship, the world's most powerful rocket, which is vital to NASA's plans for landing astronauts on the moon and Elon Musk's hopes of eventually colonizing Mars.
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The SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024. SpaceX on Thursday carried out the third test launch of Starship, the world's most powerful rocket. SpaceX's Starship mega rocket was "lost" during re-entry through Earth's atmosphere during its third test flight, the company said in a webcast. "We are making the call now that we have lost ship 28," an announcer said during a live stream.
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Here's another view of the SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifting off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024.
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The SpaceX Starship launches at the Starbase facility outside Brownsville, Texas, on March 14, 2024.
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The SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024.
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People prepare to watch the launch of the SpaceX Starship Flight 3 Rocket near the Starbase facility outside Brownsville, Texas, on March 14, 2024.
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The SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024.
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People wait together for the launch of the SpaceX Starship Flight 3 Rocket near the Starbase facility in Brownsville, Texas, on March 14, 2024. The operation marks SpaceX's third test flight for the spacecraft.
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The SpaceX Starship is seen on the launch pad ahead of its third flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 12, 2024.
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The SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024. SpaceX on Thursday carried out the third test launch of Starship, the world's most powerful rocket. SpaceX's Starship mega rocket was "lost" during re-entry through Earth's atmosphere during its third test flight, the company said in a webcast.
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SpaceX's Starbase facility is seen a day before Starship Flight 3's scheduled launch near Boca Chica beach outside Brownsville, Texas, on March 13, 2024.
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Billionaire businessman and pilot Jared Isaacman flies in formation aboard a fighter jet over the SpaceX Starship spacecraft, before his third test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 13, 2024.
Elon Musk's SpaceX announced it was eyeing March 14 as the earliest date for the next test launch of its giant Starship rocket, with which it hopes to one day colonize Mars. Two previous attempts have ended in spectacular explosions, though the company has adopted a rapid trial-and-error approach in order to accelerate development.
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The SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024.
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People walk up a hill near the Starship Flight 3 rocket a day before its scheduled launch at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica beach outside Brownsville, Texas, on March 13, 2024.
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SpaceX's Starship rocket launched from the company's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 18, 2023. The event marked the second flight test for Starship, the largest rocket ever built and the vehicle Elon Musk hopes will one day colonize Mars. NASA awaits a modified version to land humans on the Moon.
The November flight followed a first attempt to fly the spaceship in its fully-stacked configuration in April 2023. That flight ended in a spectacular explosion over the Gulf of Mexico.
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Here's another view of SpaceX's Starship rocket launching from Starbase during its second test flight in Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 18, 2023.
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Speaking to journalists and fans on a Twitter spaces event in May 2023, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk discussed Starship's second test flight.
"Basically the outcome was roughly sort of what I expected and maybe slightly exceeded my expectations. And I'm glad to report that the pad damage is actually quite small, and it looks like it can be repaired quite quickly," he said of the April 2023 launch, per Ars Technica. "It was actually just good to get this vehicle off the ground because we've made so many improvements in Booster 9 and beyond."
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The SpaceX Starship lifted off from the launchpad during its first flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, 2023. The rocket successfully blasted off at 8:33 am Central Time.
The Starship capsule had been scheduled to separate from the first-stage rocket booster three minutes into the flight but separation failed to occur and the rocket blew up.
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SpaceX's Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, is seen above Texas on April 20, 2023. SpaceX's second attempt to launch its signature massive Starship rocket took steps in the right direction but ended prematurely in a fiery explosion.
The test flight took place three days after the private space firm scrapped an initial launch following the detection of a frozen valve on the vessel. This time around, the unmanned, 400-foot Starship departed from the launch pad in Texas and went soaring into the sky, lifting upwards for nearly four minutes before detonating in a spectacular fireball.
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A boat is seen passing in front of the SpaceX Starship rocket in South Padre Island, Texas, on April 17, 2023. The company postponed Starship's first test flight just minutes ahead of the scheduled launch time because of a pressurization issue, SpaceX officials said. The flight was rescheduled for April 20, 2023.
