SpaceX’s mega rocket blasts off on a third test flight from Texas

SpaceX’s mega rocket blasted off on another test flight Thursday, this time with the spacecraft reaching enough speed to coast toward its finish line halfway around the world.

It outperformed the previous two test flights, which both ended in explosions minutes after liftoff.

Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, soared from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border before it headed out over the Gulf of Mexico. No people or satellites were on board.

Minutes later, the booster separated seamlessly from the spaceship and splashed down into the gulf. The spacecraft continued eastward for a planned hourlong flight and splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

The rocket and futuristic-looking spacecraft towers 397 feet (121 meters), easily exceeding NASA’s past and present moon rockets.