SpaceX Starship rocket splashes down in Pacific Ocean – live updates

‘Incredibly impressive’ de-orbit burn saves rocket from being stuck in spacepublished at 16:29 BST

16:29 BST

If the Starship’s engines hadn’t engaged in the de-orbit
burn and it hadn’t happened effectively, the consequences would have been that
the Starship could have stayed orbiting Earth, science journalist Caroline
Steel tells the BBC.

This would add to the space junk problem that we have, she
says.

SpaceX “really only wanted to keep orbiting if they
were sure they would be able to get the Starship back down to earth”, she
adds.

“That was incredibly impressive seeing how small and
short that engine blast was to get the rocket back down to Earth. Tiny changes
in angles and speeds really add up over time.”

Steel explains now the rocket is going in a slightly
different direction, and the gravitational pull will bring it back down to
Earth.