SpaceX launches Starship on first orbital flight

SpaceX’s next-generation Starship rocket successfully reached Earth orbit for the first time Monday morning.

The massive, fully-reusable Starship is key to SpaceX’s commercial spaceflight ambitions, while NASA is counting on a modified version for use as a lunar lander in its Artemis program.

Starship launched from South Texas just before 9 a.m. ET on a planned test flight of about 10 hours.

It’s set to orbit Earth about six times before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, west of Chile.

by Axios – SpaceX launches Starship rocket on first orbital flight