SpaceX has pulled off a successful test flight of its newest generation rocket Starship, reversing a trend of disappointing failures. The world's largest and most powerful rocket blasted off from Texas just after 18:30 local time (00:30 BST) for a nail-biting 60-minute flight.

Coming off a string of explosive failures, Starship's latest flight, by comparison, feels like a resounding success for SpaceX. On Tuesday night, the world's largest rocket launched into space, with both of its stages successfully returning to their separate landing targets on Earth without a catastrophic explosion.

SpaceX has faced public scrutiny for its previous Starship test failures. Its leadership insists that the company's rapid break-it-fix-it strategy is all part of the company's unique iterative philosophy — in stark contrast with NASA 's much slower and careful approach.