SpaceX launches Starship on third test flight [Video]

After two nail-biting and explosive test flights in 2023, a SpaceX Starship rocket has launched from the Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.Watch video of the launch in the player above.The deep-space rocket system is aiming to make it through an hour-long integrated flight test. If successful, the spacecraft will splash down in the Indian Ocean, putting the gargantuan vehicle in a position to move on to more complex test flights and, eventually, carry NASA astronauts to the moon’s surface.The target launch time was pushed back several times Thursday morning, most recently to give officials more time to clear some wayward boats out of nearby keep-out zones for safety reasons.The Starship vehicle — which includes the upper Starship spacecraft and a rocket booster known as the Super Heavy — took off from SpaceX’s private Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, at 8:25 a.m. CT (9:25 a.m. ET).The event is streaming …