The 124-meter-tall rocket roared away from the company's base in Texas on Monday morning local time. The launch is Starship's 14th in three years, but previous ones have been scheduled to end in the Pacific Ocean. Now SpaceX, founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, hopes that the rocket is ready to go into orbit and circle the Earth six times.
The giant rocket carries 26 of the company's most advanced Starlink satellites, designed to complement the 11,000 older satellites already in orbit that provide internet to parts of the world.
The launch is seen as preparation for participation in NASA's Artemis program, which is focused on the moon.
