After several failed attempts, Nasa’s ‘Space Launch System’ (SLS) rocket has launched from the agency's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, propelling the Orion spacecraft in the Moon's direction.
The uncrewed mission is the first in the space agency's Artemis programme, which aims to take humans back to the Moon and establish a lunar colony in the Earth's only natural satellite.
“We rise together, back to the Moon and beyond,” said Nasa’s official commentator as the 98-metre rocket took off in a cloud of smoke.
The SLS is the most powerful rocket Nasa has ever built. In this crucial testing phase, it will fly further than any spacecraft built for humans: 40,000 miles past the far side of the Moon and 280,000 miles from Earth.