SpaceX successfully completed the first test flight of its prototype Starship rocket, a reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo into Earth orbit and eventually to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Anyone who spotted Tuesday's 500-foot (150 meter) "hop" would be forgiven for thinking SpaceX launched a giant grain silo sky-high. A far cry from the rocket's expected final form, the SN5 prototype features only one Raptor engine (versus the six that will take it into space), as well as a weighted block on its head in place of a proper nose cone.
Still, the very cylindrical (very un-SpaceX) test craft marked a major milestone for the aerospace company: it's the first large-scale Starship model to survive liftoff and landing. Last year, SpaceX sent a smaller, more water tower-esque version of the rocket, nicknamed Starhopper, 500 feet into the air before landing again.
After a rocky start, during which SN5 struggled to get airborne, the rocket quickly rises above its cloud of smoke, pauses in the sky, then slowly drops back down to Earth for a satisfying landing. Standing at 160 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter, the finished product will look SpaceX sleek, with a pointed tip and parallel fins; it's designed to fit atop the firm's Super Heavy booster to create a nearly 400-foot-tall capsule, capable of carrying a payload of more than a ton.
Tuesday's triumphant test came just two days after SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule carried a pair of NASA astronauts from the International Space Station to Earth. Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley splashed down Sunday afternoon in the Gulf of Mexico, where recovery boat GO Navigator was waiting to retrieve them.