SpaceX's Starship rocket has achieved Earth orbit for the first time. The mega-rocket launched from South Texas early on Monday morning, initially ticking all the early boxes for a successful take-off.
However, shortly after the upper stage of the spacecraft separated, it lost one of its six Raptor engines. Despite this, Starship was able to reach orbit, though the company initially paused the attempt before deciding to proceed.
Reaching orbit is a significant milestone for SpaceX, potentially enabling Starship to begin regular commercial missions and advance towards its goal of full reusability. The company's plans for Starship include moon missions for NASA and deploying data centre satellites.
Prior to the launch, SpaceX had planned for the Starship upper stage to orbit Earth six times over nine hours, deploying 26 third-generation Starlinks. It is not yet clear if this plan was altered due to the delayed entry into orbit.
The Super Heavy booster stage also made progress, returning to the Gulf coast after separating from the upper stage and performing a simulated landing over water. This was described as the cleanest simulated landing for the V3 version of Starship, which began testing in May.