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Watch: SpaceX launches Starship rocket into orbit for first timeCloseSpaceX describes Starship as "the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed" and says it will eventually carry crew and cargo "to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond".
The aim of the spacecraft - which will undergo its 14th test flight today - is to be able to carry up to 100 people on "long-duration, inter-planetary flights".
The rocket is aiming to make six orbits of Earth for the first time during a 10-hour flight, before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean to the west of Chile.
Until now, all Starship flights have been suborbital, meaning the capsules were high enough to reach space, but did not travel fast enough or long enough to complete a loop around the Earth. Most of the previous flights were about one hour.
- SubsectionUS & Canada
- Published1 minute ago
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