SpaceX's Starship Rocket Made It To Space On Third Test Flight

SpaceX launched the third test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday (March 14) morning. The rocket, which is the most powerful in the world, lifted off at 9:25 a.m. from SpaceX's private launch site near Boca Chica Beach in Texas.

The Starship rocket successfully reached space for the first time after exploding during the two previous test flights.

"Starship reached orbital velocity! Congratulations @SpaceX team!!" SpaceX founder Elon Musk wrote on X.

However, the Starship rocket and its Super Heavy booster did not survive reentry. Despite losing both, SpaceX considered the test flight a success.

"We are making the call now that we have lost (the) ship," SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot said during a live stream of the launch. "No splashdown today, but again just it's incredible to see how much further we got this time around."

Starship is a major part of SpaceX's plans to return humans to the moon and then eventually to Mars. NASA plans to use the rocket to ferry astronauts to the moon in 2026 as part of its Artemis mission.