Analysts say SpaceX's Starship mission hit several key milestones on its third try, as it went farther than ever before and completed nearly an entire test flight through space, despite the craft disintegrating on its return to Earth.

Texas

SpaceX's latest Starship mission, although culminating in the craft disintegrating upon its return to Earth, has been recognized for achieving significant progress. Analysts highlight that on its third attempt, the mission surpassed previous distances and completed almost an entire test flight through space. This initiative by SpaceX marks a pivotal advancement in their ongoing space exploration endeavors, showcasing the capability to reach farther into space and complete comprehensive test flights, despite ending in the craft's destruction. 



SpaceX's lost Starship still made progress: Analysts

Despite meeting a fiery end, analysts say Thursday's SpaceX Starship flight did hit some key milestones before it disintegrated on its return to Earth. They say it took steps forward toward the goal to one day take people to the Moon and Mars. It went beyond the Starship craft's past two performances, which were both cut short by explosions minutes after launch. In comparison, the second launch saw some of its 33 Raptor engines malfunction on ascent. Laura Forchich is the founder of Astrolytical Space Consulting. It was able to launch with all 33 Raptor engines. It was able to do a complete separation of the booster from Starship. It was able to relight some of those engines and do a test of the payload bay doors, opening and closing them. Forchich says SpaceX still needs several more test flights before attempting to launch the rocket with a human crew. SpaceX needs to prove that Starship is 100% safe before it takes astronauts on board. And in order to do that, it needs to make sure it understands how the vehicle re-enters the atmosphere, both parts of the vehicle, the booster, and then the vehicle that's on top, the actual Starship. It needs to safely be able to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and then land. So that's that last step that it did not accomplish today, but will hopefully accomplish in the near future. Losing the spacecraft is costly, but within SpaceX's calculations. Commentators say the company's engineering culture is more risk-tolerant than many of the aerospace industry's more established players. Their flight testing strategy pushes spacecraft to the point of failure, then fine-tunes improvements through frequent repetition. SpaceX's philosophy is more that, you know, they don't expect everything to go right. Matt Schindel is Curator of Planetary Science and Exploration at the National Air and Space Museum. They don't expect everything to go right, but they expect things to improve over time. And that's worked well for them with their Falcon 9 rockets, which are now very profitable for the company. Company founder Elon Musk sees Starship as eventually replacing the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as the workhorse in the company's commercial launch business in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX officials have said they plan to conduct at least six more test flights of Starship this year, subject to regulatory approval. Meanwhile, Musk is counting on Starship to fulfill his goal of producing a large, multipurpose, next-generation spacecraft capable of sending people and cargo to the moon and beyond this decade. Something that Elon Musk has promoted ever since he introduced the idea of the Starship rocket was that this would be a vehicle that would eventually give us the capabilities to send humans to Mars and to have a sort of ongoing transport between Earth and Mars. I would say that with this technology, if you can manage to make lunar exploration and lunar habitation sustainable, then yeah, Mars might be a logical next step. NASA also has a lot riding on the success of Starship. The agency is giving it a central role in its Artemis program, successor to the Apollo missions that put astronauts on the moon for the first time more than 50 years ago. While NASA executives have embraced Musk's frequent flight testing approach, agency officials in recent months say they want to see greater progress with Starship's development as the United States races with China to the lunar surface.

Floods have killed at least 58 people in southern Brazil. Nearly 70,000 have been forced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people have been left without drinking water or electricity. It's the worst flooding the region has seen in more than 80 years.

State of Rio Grande do Sul

Climate Crisis

'It's going to get worse': Brazil braces for flood peaks

Students at the University of California in Irvine say they will remain on campus until all their demands are met. School officials say they'll continue to negotiate with the protesters -- and are hoping to reach a deal soon.

Irvine

Israel-Gaza War

Police, protesters in stand-off at California university

The Federal Government will cut $3 billion in student debts, in measures to be announced in next week's budget. The reforms will see the student loans of three million graduates by an average of $1200 and changes to loan indexation.

Camperdown

Labor to wipe $3 billion of student debts

Mexican authorities have charged three suspects over the disappearance of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. It's believed the tourists became embroiled in a bungled robbery. Four bodies were found near the trio's abandoned campsite, but are yet to be formally identified.

Baja California

Mexican authorities lay charges over Australian brothers' disappearance

A knife-wielding teenage boy has been shot dead by police in Bunnings carpark in Willetton, Perth. The 16-year-old boy had phoned Triple Zero saying he planned ‘acts of violence’ and stabbed a male member of the public. The WA Police Commissioner says the teenager had ‘mental health and radicalisation issues’.

Willetton

Police shoot dead ‘radicalised’ teenage boy in Perth

The death toll from rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 57, local authorities said on Saturday (May 4) afternoon, while dozens still have not been accounted for.

Dozens missing amid record-breaking Brazil flooding

There are renewed hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza after a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to continue talks amid reports of a proposal agreed to by Israel to halt fighting for an initial 40 days in exchange for the release of hostages.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Hopes rise for Gaza ceasefire amid Hamas talks

Students showing support for Palestinians have set up camp outside the University College London. They say they'll continue their protest until the university divests from Israeli institutions that 'profit from the war in Gaza'.

London

Pro-Palestine university protests spread to London

Dozens of Palestinians have held a demonstration in the West Bank, to condemn the killing of five Palestinian fighters. Crowds rallied hours after Israeli troops attacked the fighters in the village of Deir al Ghoson.

Jerusalem

Five Palestinian fighters killed during West Bank raid

Dozens of people in two rubber dinghies have reached the southern coast of England, the latest among thousands of asylum-seeking migrants to make the risky sea crossing from France this year.

Dover

Asylum seekers arrive in England despite Rwanda threat

A former immigration detainee has been bailed after allegedly threatening police with a knife in Melbourne. It follows the recent violent home invasion allegedly committed by another released detainee in Western Australia Pressure is mounting on Federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to be held to account.

Canberra

Pressure mounts on Immigration Minister after latest detainee incident

Mexican authorities have reportedly discovered a fourth body near the cliff site where Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson disappeared, along with their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. The Australian family of the brothers are en route to Mexico. The bodies are yet to be formally identified.

Ensenada

Fourth body discovered in Mexico search for Australian brothers

Ukraine is eagerly waiting for Western aid as Russia racks up more victories on the battlefield. Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on a visit to Kyiv gave Ukraine the go-ahead to use British weapons to strike directly at Russia.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

U.K. allows its weapons to be used on Russian soil

Canadian police have charged three Indian men with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year and said they were probing whether the men had ties to the Indian government.

Surrey

Canada police charge three with murder of Sikh leader

China has launched an uncrewed spacecraft on a nearly two-month mission to retrieve rocks and soil from the far side of the moon, the first country to make such an ambitious attempt.

Wenchang

China launches mission to far side of the moon

Britain's opposition Labour Party won a parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday (May 3) and control of several councils, inflicting heavy losses on the governing Conservatives to pile more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

U.K.'s Labour claims big early win over Conservatives

Turkey has announced that it is halting trade with Israel, worth $7 billion a year, until a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza. Israel denounced the decision as breaking trade agreements.

Ankara

Turkey to stop trade with Israel until Gaza ceasefire

Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders warned of declining government support for press freedom as it unveiled its annual world rankings on Friday, highlighting Argentina among the countries where the situation has deteriorated.

Paris

States doing less to support press freedom, says watchdog

Arizona's Democratic governor signed a bill overturning an 1864 law banning abortion, a month after the state's supreme court said the Civil War-era rule was valid.

Arizona

Arizona governor signs bill repealing 1864 abortion ban

U.S. President Joe Biden said that both freedom of speech and the rule of law must be respected in protests at college campuses over Israel's war in Gaza. In response to a reporter's question, Biden said that the campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East.

Washington

Biden breaks silence on protests at University Campuses

From suspensions to expulsions to criminal charges, college students across the U.S. involved in these pro-Palestinian protests could face life-changing consequences. Some are demanding amnesty for these protesters.

New York

More than 1,000 student protesters arrested across U.S.

English voters are heading to polling stations to pick mayors, councilors and a new lawmaker in the last electoral test for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before a national vote later this year.

Voters head to polls in last test for U.K.'s Sunak

The US State Department accused Russia of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow. In addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin, Russia also used "riot control agents (tear gas) as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC," the department said in a factsheet.

Zaporizhzhia

U.S. accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine

There are grave concerns for Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson who are missing on a surf trip in Mexico's Baja region. The pair have failed to arrive at their accommodation and are not responding to contact from their families.

Council of the City of Sydney

Grave fears for brothers missing on Mexico surf trip

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has kept open the prospect of tax incentives in the budget as business warned that changes to foreign investment laws. It comes amid criticism that budget spending could prompt further inflation and prompt rate rises.

Government hints at further tax incentives in Budget

Colombian President Gustavo Petro says his country will break diplomatic relations with Israel. He's criticised Israel's conduct since the start of the war on Gaza. Petro requested to join South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.

Bogotá

Colombia ends diplomatic relations with Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, pushing to get more aid into Gaza, while urging Hamas to accept a deal that would halt fighting and bring some hostages home from the enclave.

Blinken pushes for sustained aid into Gaza during Israel trip

Police in Georgia fired teargas and rubber bullets at protesters demonstrating against a bill that would require organizations – including media and NGOs – that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as agents "pursuing the interests of a foreign power." The bill has been dubbed the "Russian law" by its detractors.

Tbilisi

Thousands protest against Georgia's 'foreign influence' bill

A diplomatic push is underway to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, with the U.S. exerting pressure on Hamas to agree to Israel's terms. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to attack Rafah in southern Gaza, whether there's a ceasefire or not.