We're closing our coverage of the launch of SpaceX's rocket, Starship. Even though it was lost at the end of the flight, today is considered a success.

The rocket travelled further than previous rockets have done and achieved some key milestones, but the team lost contact on its way back to Earth.

Our coverage was edited by Aiofe Walsh and Alex Binley. The writers were Jonathan Amos, Malu Cursino and Gabriela Pomeroy.

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

Image source, Reuters

We said at the outset that success today would be judged on progress, on getting well beyond the milestones achieved on the two previous test flights last year. SpaceX did that, and some.

There can be little doubt now, I think, that Starship is going to mature into a highly effective space launch system.

The getaway looked perfect – all 33 engines at the base of the booster fired up and took the vehicle to the anticipated staging point where the Ship separated and pushed on into space.

The Ship completed powered ascent, shutting down its engines at the appropriate time. So far, so perfect. The Ship then coasted around the Earth.

It was supposed to reignite its engine system to de-orbit, but controllers skipped this because the vehicle was coming in on a good trajectory anyway.

The pictures at re-entry were spectacular; you could see the super-heated gases envelop the Ship. You could see the vehicle moving its flaps to try to control the descent.

And then the signal fell over, as expected in that harsh, energetic environment. SpaceX said the vehicle was lost. What that likely means is that the Ship broke up as it came down and wasn’t able to perform the high-speed bellyflop as planned.

But that’s a detail for another day. As they say, “test early, break it and learn”.

We're ending our coverage here, but you can expect SpaceX to return very soon with another test flight, perhaps a total of six more this year. We'll see you again for the next one.

The SpaceX team have described today's Starship endeavour as a successful third attempt to get to space - despite contact being lost as the Ship re-entered Earth's atmosphere.

Here's a look at some of the key developments from today's mission:

• Unlike the previous two attempts that experienced early technical malfunctions, Starship was able this time to make its way through nearly all the stages that SpaceX wanted it to achieve
• The most impressive of which being that the rocket made it to space in its longest and most ambitious test flight thus far

• After blasting off from Texas, US, the rocket was due to splashdown in the Indian Ocean - but that's when contact was lost

• Nevertheless, it managed to go through stage separation - when the booster comes apart from the Ship - and the Super Heavy's 33 raptor engines opened up, as well as that all six engines on the Ship successfully propelled it into orbit
• One of the main aims of thoroughly testing the 120m-tall (395ft) rocket again and again is to ensure that one day Starship can play its critical role in Nasa's Artemis programme to put astronauts back on the Moon this decade

Images are coming through now from SpaceX's momentous rocket launch.

The launch was SpaceX's longest and most ambitious test flight so far. Take a look at some of the best pictures below:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

The SpaceX team says it has lost data as the Ship made its way back down to Earth. It means no controlled splashdown will be happening today.

On its live stream, SpaceX says it's "incredible to see how far we got this time around".

A destructive ending is not a surprise.

Because the rocket is travelling so fast when it re-enters the atmosphere it is pushing up against the air and the air can't get out of the way fast enough - like when you pump up the tyre on a bicycle - it gets very, very hot, and of course in this high energy environment we're talking maybe 1,000C, 2,000C.

That is more than hot enough to melt the steel from which this rocket is made.

The plasma that forms around the the returning vehicle also blocks radio signals.

The SpaceX Starship successfully launched from its base in Texas around 13:25 - its third test flight.

Here's the incredible moment the blast-off occurred:

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

Among the keenest observers of this test flight is US space agency, Nasa.

Starship is critical to Nasa's Artemis programme to put astronauts back on the Moon this decade. A version of Starship would act as the landing craft, taking the crew from lunar orbit down to the surface - and then lifting them back off again.

SpaceX, however, will first have to show it can produce a safe and reliable vehicle before astronauts are permitted to climb aboard.

Nasa has scheduled late 2026 for when it would like to see boots back on the Moon.

Image source, Reuters

Elon Musk has congratulated the SpaceX team, as the Ship coasts across the sky.

"Starship reached orbital velocity! Congratulations SpaceX team!!" he says on X., external

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

Looking at it from here, the launch could not have gone better. But what might be a hurdle next will be surviving re-entry.

That's because the noise and vibrations experienced during a launch are intense.

If you ever go to a rocket launch, leave your phone in your pocket; don't try to film it. Just experience it.

First of all, you see this blinding light from the engines at the base of the rocket, you would not believe how bright the light is; it's like looking at the Sun.

And then you start to hear the rumble, you hear the noise get louder and louder.

Then, your whole body starts to vibrate.

The payload sitting on top of a rocket is experiencing all of that noise and vibration as well, so when they make satellites they put them through all that testing as well.

Will all the noise and vibration from Starship's launch have knocked off the thermal tiles needed to protect the Ship when it re-enters the atmosphere? Something to watch.

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

SpaceX is planning some technical demonstrations while the Ship is coasting. A door will be opened and closed on the craft, which will be used one day to eject satellites.

But nothing will come out this time; SpaceX will just be testing the mechanism.

Engineers are also going to get the Ship to move propellant from one tank to another. Although taking place inside the craft, the procedure is an important learning step towards future Starships being able to one day to refuel each other while in orbit.

The final planned demonstration is the re-ignition of an engine to direct the Ship to that splashdown point in the Indian Ocean.

Image source, Getty Images

The Starship rocket has gone "farther than we've ever come before", the SpaceX team says on its live stream.

It says all the Super Heavy booster's 33 raptor engines fired up, and all six engines on the Ship successfully propelled it into space.

SpaceX says it will take the next hour to learn as much as possible about some of the other systems.

Here we go! SpaceX's mammoth Starship rocket has just launched from SpaceX's base in Texas.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates on its journey. And don't forget to click the 'play' button at the top of our page to follow it live.

The Starship rocket is due to lift off soon from SpaceX's base in Boca Chica, Texas, with less than five minutes to go.

There's a lot of hope pinned on the rocket's mission, after its two previous attempts were cut short by technical issues early in their flight profiles.

You can watch the lift off live by clicking the 'play' button at the top of our live page.

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

SpaceX develops its technology in a different way from how many people might expect it to be done.

The company's philosophy is to “test early, break it and learn”. SpaceX is not worried if something doesn't work perfectly straight out of the box.

So don’t be surprised if the Ship doesn’t make it all the way to splashdown in the Indian Ocean - or even if there’s another explosion along the way.

For SpaceX, success will be judged on what it manages to get right over and above what happened to Starship previously.

This means seeing the booster and the Ship get significantly further along in the planned mission profile.

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

Today's flight profile is slightly different from those of the two test outings conducted last year.

They’d originally planned for the Ship to try to make one near-full revolution of the Earth, ending with the Ship making a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean close to Hawaii.

This time, the planned path is shorter, with the splashdown set to occur in the southern Indian Ocean, west of Australia.

Of course, those first two test flights didn't get anywhere near the Pacific, but the key thing to watch here is "progress". In other words, how much further this mission gets compared with those earlier efforts.

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

Image source, EPA

For SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the plans for his next-generation Starship are both near and far-term.

In the near-term, he needs its lifting potential to service his Starlink internet constellation. Already comprising over 5,500 spacecraft, this system requires the ongoing addition and replacement of satellites.

And Starship will have the heft to do it.

Down the road, Musk has talked about sending people to Mars - of making humans "a multi-planetary species".

Unsurprisingly, Starship is integral to making that dream a reality.

Starship is the most powerful rocket system ever to lift off Earth.

The 33 engines at the base of the Super Heavy booster produce 74 meganewtons of thrust. This dwarfs all previous vehicles, including those that sent men to the Moon in the 1960s-70s.

Image source, .

We're now hearing from SpaceX that the team have started loading the propellant and launch is scheduled for 13:25 GMT (08:25 local time in Texas).

"The Starship team is go for prop load but keeping an eye on winds," SpaceX says., external

Stay with us as we bring you the latest.

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

Image source, Reuters

You can be forgiven for not remembering exactly what happened in the last two test flights - the first one happened nearly a year ago.

During the maiden launch last April, we saw Starship end its mission close to where it started, just off the coast of Texas. The rocket lifted off but failed to separate and eventually tore itself apart four minutes after leaving the ground.

The second flight in November fared much better. It witnessed a clean getaway from the launch mount and a very adept separation of the two stages at the appropriate time.

However, the booster then blew up as it tried to push back closer towards the Texas coastline, and although the Starship carried on for several minutes, it eventually fell victim to a fire in its engine compartment and was terminated with explosive charges.

Elon Musk says numerous changes and upgrades have been made for what's being called the Integrated Flight Test 3, or IFT3.

In its latest update, external, SpaceX says it's hoping to launch Starship at 13:25 GMT (08:25 local time) from its base in southeast Texas - but that time could change.

Starship was originally expected to launch at 12:00 GMT, but the timing has been delayed a couple of times since.

The company said this was to allow more time for its team to clear "a few boats from the keep out area in the Gulf of Mexico".