SWAN DIVE

SpaceX’s Unmanned Starship Test Ends in Successful Splash-Down

“Despite the loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!” Elon Musk wrote on X.

SpaceX’s Starship rocket had a successful launch Thursday morning that ended with a splash-down in the Indian Ocean after blasting off from Starbase in Texas. The two-stage spacecraft, made of a cruise vessel and a Super Heavy booster, achieved liftoff on its fourth mission around 8:50 a.m. ET from Texas, ditched the booster in the Gulf of Mexico, and then traveled halfway around the world before landing in the Indian Ocean about an hour later. Both the booster and the vessel re-entered Earth’s atmosphere mostly intact, a huge milestone for Elon Musk’s space exploration company. “Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!” Musk tweeted. SpaceX hopes to use Starship to colonize the moon and Mars, so there are many more tests the rocket needs to pass before it’s suitable for passengers. It’s intended to be fully reusable, but for now, the empty vessel will remain at sea—SpaceX has no plans to salvage anything from Thursday’s launch, ABC Australia reported.