SpaceX launched the sixth test flight of its giant Starship rocket on Tuesday.

Starship took off from the company's Starbase facility near Brownsville in the U.S. state of Texas at about 4:01 p.m. Central Time.

Starship's Raptor engines ignited during hot-staging separation. Several minutes after liftoff, the Super Heavy booster initiated its landing burn and softly splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico.

Objectives of the new test include the booster once again returning to the launch site for catch, reigniting a ship Raptor engine while in space, and testing a suite of heat shield experiments and maneuvering changes for ship reentry and descent over the Indian Ocean, according to SpaceX.

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket, collectively referred to as Starship, represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon, Mars and beyond. 

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