SpaceX launches mega Starship rocket on second test flight

SpaceX on Saturday carried out the second test launch of Starship, the largest rocket ever built that Elon Musk hopes will one day colonize Mars, while NASA awaits a modified version to land humans on the Moon.

It comes after a first attempt to fly the spaceship in its fully-stacked configuration back in April ended in a spectacular explosion over the Gulf of Mexico.

The rocket blasted off from the company’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas shortly after 7:00 am local time (1300 GMT).

The booster successfully separated from the ship, but blew up shortly after, while the ship continued on track.

Its Super Heavy booster produces 16.7 million pounds (74.3 Meganewtons) of thrust, almost double that of the world’s second most powerful rocket, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) — though the latter is now fully operational.

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