SpaceX pulls off Starship rocket launch in stunning comeback

The Starship rocket is critical to the company's hopes of one day carrying people to the Moon and Mars.

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The world's largest and most powerful rocket blasted off from Texas just after 18:30 local time (00:30 BST) for a nail-biting 60-minute flight.

Parts of the engine appeared to explode at one stage, and flaps on the side of the rocket caught fire and swung from side-to-side.

US space agency Nasa plans to use Starship to send humans to the Moon for its Artemis programme in 2027.

"Great work by the SpaceX team!!", posted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on X, who is spending billions on developing Starship, which each launch costing an estimated $100m.