The largest rocket ever built, the Starship craft from the American company SpaceX, took off on its tenth test flight, after a series of technical problems had called into question its viability.

The giant, more than 120 meters high, rose from its base in Texas shortly after 6:30 pm local time (11:30 pm GMT), and the upper stage successfully splashed down in the Indian Ocean about an hour later, having met its key objectives, according to a video broadcast from the company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk.

"Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting tenth Starship flight test!" wrote the company in X.

A few minutes after launch, the first stage booster splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico.

Unlike other tests, SpaceX did not attempt to catch Starship on the launch tower but to test its performance.

The focus then turned to the upper stage, intended to carry crew and cargo, and its capabilities as it rises into space.

For the first time, SpaceX managed to successfully deploy eight test Starlink internet satellites, with onboard cameras transmitting live images of a robotic mechanism that propelled them one by one.

It was not all rosy. Some heat plates broke off and a small section of a spoiler burned off during the craft's intense descent.

SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot said much of that incident was predictable, and that the vehicle intentionally flew a challenging trajectory with some plates removed.

“We're being a little rough on this spacecraft,” he said in the webcast. “We're really trying to test it and explore its weaknesses.”