Watch SpaceX Fly Full-Scale Starship Prototype to 500 Feet

Lift-Off!

SpaceX has successfully flown its massive SN5 Starship prototype at its Boca Chica, Texas testing grounds to a planned height of 150 meters, or roughly 500 feet.

“Mars is looking real,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted in response to the news.

And it was quite the sight — a livestream showed the gigantic cylindrical stainless steel structure float up into the air, leaving a massive dust cloud behind. It then smoothly made its return journey downward.

“This looks simultaneously cool as hell and fucking ridiculous,” tweeted Ars Technica senior space reporter Eric Berger.

A Major Milestone

It’s a big milestone in SpaceX’s efforts to build a rocket capable of ferrying up to 100 passengers (or 100 tons of cargo) to the Moon and even Mars.

The massive fuel tank, the company’s sixth full-scale testing prototype, lifted off the ground, with only one of the company’s next-generation Raptor rocket engines roaring below.

Despite today’s success, the SpaceX team still has a long way to go. The final version is designed to hold six Raptor…

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