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STARBASE, (Texas): SpaceX’s next-generation Starship rocket reached orbit for the first time on Monday despite having one of its engines down, overcoming this hitch mid-flight to deploy the first batch of new Starlink satellites as Elon Musk’s company plans to put the vehicle into routine use starting later this year.
The uncrewed 40-story-tall vehicle, consisting of a Super Heavy booster rocket topped by the main upper-stage Starship vessel, thundered off its launch pad from SpaceX’s Starbase complex along the Gulf of Mexico near Brownsville.