SpaceX Starship prototype successfully lands
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A SpaceX Starship prototype has successfully landed for the first time.
It's a massive breakthrough for the company because the four previous test rocket ships all ran into trouble as they tried to land, and blowing up in the process.
There's a lot of interest in the Starship concept because the American space agency (Nasa) has chosen it to land astronauts on the Moon later this decade.
The prototype landed at SpaceX's test facility in Texas on Wednesday.
Artwork: A vehicle based on Starship has been selected to land Nasa astronauts on the Moon
It is hoped that Starships like this will eventually replace the Falcon rockets used by Nasa at the moment.
Falcon rockets already carry out missions for Nasa both with a crew and without.
SpaceX Chief executive, Elon Musk, thinks his company will be able to develop the technology to take people to Mars on the Starship within six years.
He has even promised a trip to the moon to a Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, in 2023.
- Published4 March 2021
- Published6 January 2021
