The stakes were high for SpaceX's seventh Starship test flight on Thursday afternoon. Just hours earlier, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket reached orbit for the first time, moving it closer to competing with SpaceX.

The third Starship test flight last March saw the spacecraft reach its planned trajectory and fly halfway around the world before succumbing to the scorching heat of atmospheric reentry. In June, the fourth test flight ended with controlled splashdowns of the rocket's Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and of Starship in the Indian Ocean.