SpaceX launches third Starship test flight

Rocket system enters space several minutes after launch from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas

SpaceX has launched the third test flight of it Starship spacecraft, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, which aims to carry astronauts to the moon and, eventually, to Mars.

The 120-metre system, which weights about 5,000 metic tonnes when fully fuelled, took off from SpaceX’s spaceport, named Starbase, on the Gulf of Mexico in Boca Chica, Texas. It entered space several minutes later.