The Brief

SpaceX launched Starship Tuesday from its Starbase site in southern Texas after two prior test flights ended in explosions.

The spacecraft aimed for reentry in the Indian Ocean, but a door malfunction prevented the release of mock Starlink satellites.

It was the first Starship test to use a recycled booster, which splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico without recovery plans.

After two explosive failures earlier this year, SpaceX made progress Tuesday with its latest Starship test flight — even as the mission failed to complete a satellite deployment demonstration.

The 403-foot rocket, the largest and most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase in South Texas. The company hoped the upper stage would travel halfway around the world before splashing down in the Indian Ocea

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