A high-stakes test of SpaceX’s Starship rocket delivered a win for Elon Musk’s rocket company Tuesday as the system’s giant rocket booster and spacecraft returned to Earth intact.

The uncrewed, experimental rocket took off around 6:30 p.m. Central time from a launchpad in South Texas and successfully separated with the spacecraft minutes later. The booster then powered down over the Gulf of Mexico, where it splashed into the water; SpaceX did not try for the dramatic reusable landing it achieved last year.

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