Musk’s Starship rocket makes breakthrough ocean landing
Elon Musk’s mammoth new rocket system has returned to Earth in a groundbreaking fourth test flight that culminated in a first-ever soft ocean landing for the Starship craft.
The aim was to get the rocket’s upper section – the Ship – to make a controlled return into the atmosphere and then to ditch in the Indian Ocean.
But the 121m-tall Starship went much further, descending broadly intact all the way to the sea surface. Video from the vehicle indicated it was falling apart at the end, but still operating.
“Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting fourth flight test of Starship!” the company said on X.
Earlier in the flight, the booster part of the rocket was brought back down to the Gulf of Mexico, to hover just above the water.
That’s also a big step forward from previous test flights when the booster was destroyed in flight.
