New Delhi, May 23 -- SpaceX's Starship lifted off in a high-stakes test of a new rocket designed to deliver Elon Musk's ambitions for human space travel, satellite internet and data centers in orbit.

The two-tier rocket system, made up of the Super Heavy Booster and the Starship spacecraft, thundered off the launchpad at SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas at 5:30 p.m. local time on Friday.

The debut flight of the third iteration of the rocket, dubbed Version 3 or V3, is ongoing and is expected to last roughly an hour.

The closely watched mission is a key demonstration of upgrades from previously launched Starship prototypes, including increasing the rocket's power and capability.

It comes the same week SpaceX, formally known as...