SpaceX lands Mars rocket prototype for the first time

PanARMENIAN.Net - SpaceX launched another test flight of an early Mars rocket prototype at its South Texas facility, sending the towering silver vehicle soaring up to about six miles above Earth, then putting it through a series of aerial acrobatics before re-lighting two of its engines and landing it upright back on a landing pad, CNN reports.

The vehicle, called SN15, was the fifth of SpaceX's rocket prototypes to attempt such a landing and the first to do so successfully. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed the successful landing on Twitter: "Starship landing nominal!"

It comes after four previous prototypes attempted to safely land after soaring a few miles into the air, with all of the prior missions ending in explosions.

SN15 is an early iteration of Starship, the vehicle that Musk envisions will one day carry the first humans to Mars.

The vehicle has several improvements over its predecessors, according to SpaceX. They include upgrades to its hardware, communication and navigation systems, software and it's massive engines, which are called Raptor engines.