SpaceX has successfully launched its 10th test flight of the world's most powerful rocket the Starship, which is earmarked for a trip to the moon in 2027. The rocket lifted off on Tuesday evening (26 August) from Starbase, Texas in what SpaceX say is "a significant step forward in developing the world’s first fully reusable launch vehicle." It ascended over the Gulf of Mexico, deployed a test payload of eight dummy satellites into space, before coming down as planned in the Indian Ocean around an hour after launch. It follows a series of failed attempts, with back-to-back tests in January and March ending after just minutes.

The SpaceX Starship is scheduled to launch 7:30 p.m. EDT Monday after nine other test flights. It was set to launch Sunday night but the flight was scrubbed.

Elon Musk’s company is trying again to overcome setbacks faced by its Starship prototype after a Sunday night scrub of a test flight.