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Most powerful rocket in history blasts off from Texas

The SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Booster creates sound waves and plumes of smoke as it lifts off on its 12th test flight from the SpaceX launch complex in Starbase, Texas, U.S.Image source, Reuters
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Space X has successfully launched the Starship rocket from Texas after its test flight was delayed.

It was the 12th test flight of the rocket which NASA is hoping to use to land astronauts on the Moon as part of the Artemis programme.

The latest Starship model is bigger and packs more power in the engine.

Although there were a few engine failures, it managed to deploy 20 dummy satellites in space before splashing down on Earth in the Indian Ocean.

A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft flies into the sky leaving behind a trailImage source, Reuters

The rocket stands at 124 meters tall and is SpaceX's third-generation of Starship.

It even lifted off from a brand new launch pad at Starbase near the Mexican border.

Starship is designed to be fully reusable with mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the rocket when it returns to Earth, but not on this particular trial run.

One day, the rocket is hoped to take people to Mars. Before that, it's likely to help NASA put people back on the Moon.