June 6 (Reuters) – SpaceX’s Starship rocket survived a fiery, hypersonic return from space and achieved a breakthrough landing demonstration in the Indian Ocean on Thursday, completing a full test mission around the globe on the rocket’s fourth try.
Starship’s controlled fall into the Indian Ocean just 65 minutes after launching from Texas capped the latest advance in the company’s test-to-failure rocket development campaign, a multibillion-dollar effort by Elon Musk’s space company to build a reusable satellite launcher and moon lander.
The three previous test missions ended with Starship blowing up or disintegrating. Testing has a ways to go. Musk has said SpaceX is planning at least six Starship test flights this year, with more expected in the years ahead as it faces pressure from NASA to demonstrate it can safely put astronaut crews on the lunar surface.
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Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/spacexs-next-starship-test-flight-surviving-hypersonic-return-is-key-2024-06-06/
