SpaceX's Starship rocket successfully reached orbit on Monday, a milestone for CEO Elon Musk following the company's record-breaking public listing in June. The 400ft rocket launched from Starbase in south Texas at 7.49am local time. Starship nearly failed to reach orbit after one engine shut down prematurely, but the company decided to continue the flight. "Starship is orbital," Mission Control announced.

Starship, the largest rocket system ever built, is central to Musk's ambitions to secure more contracts from Nasa and transport humans to the Moon and Mars. Capable of carrying up to 250 tonnes and designed to be fully reusable, it represents the company's future as it winds down its smaller Falcon rocket, which conducts more than a hundred launches a year. During its mission, Starship will deploy 26 active Starlink V3 satellites, the first of a new generation intended to increase broadband coverage and speed.

Starship will circle the planet six times over 10 hours from an altitude of about 275km before a controlled re-entry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX raised $75bn at a valuation of $2tn in June, the largest initial public offering in history.