SpaceX launches Starship V3 -- the world's most powerful and tallest rocket ever

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SpaceX on Friday launched the latest and largest version of Starship. Lifting off at around 6:30 P.M. EDT, the flight is the first test of Starship Version 3 (V3). This is the twelfth Starship test and the first demonstration of the rocket in seven months.

Fully stacked with its booster, the rocket is 408 feet (124 meters) tall and packing 18 million pounds of thrust, it is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built. The entire vehicle is designed to be reusable, but SpaceX is not attempting to recover the booster or the rocket after this test.

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman praised SpaceX before the test flight, nodding to Starship's anticipated role in future Artemis missions to return astronauts to the moon as soon as 2028. "We're looking forward to meeting up with you all in low Earth orbit," said Isaacman, referring to the agency's 2027 mission Artemis III, which will see NASA's crew capsule Orion attempt to dock with either (or both) a modified version of Starship and a Blue Moon spacecraft.

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