SpaceX launch: Starship rocket launches on third test flight

Elon Musk's SpaceX company has conducted a third test flight of the most powerful rocket ever built.

The Starship vehicle lifted off successfully from its base in south-east Texas at around 08:25 local time (13:25 GMT) and went "faster and further" than before, the SpaceX team said in its live stream.

It is hoped that the 120m-tall (393ft) Starship will usher in a revolution in space transportation, radically lowering the cost of putting people and objects into orbit.

Thursday's test flight followed missions in April and November of last year, neither of which made it many minutes beyond the point of lift-off.

Read more: Elon Musk's Starship goes 'farther than ever'