India, May 28 -- SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket for the ninth time on May 27, marking a significant milestone in its development program with the first substantial reuse of a Super Heavy booster.
The flight, while falling short of all its objectives, demonstrated notable progress and yielded valuable data for future missions.
The massive two-stage rocket lifted off from the company's Starbase facility in Texas at 7:37 p.m. EDT. For the first time, SpaceX reused a Super Heavy booster that had previously flown in January, with 29 of its 33 Raptor engines having already seen flight.
The booster executed experimental maneuvers during descent to collect data on atmospheric drag and fuel efficiency but disintegrated roughly six minute...