While SpaceX lost the upper stage of its new Starship in a flight test, the futuristic spacecraft presages a spaceflight revolution, says a leading U.S. space scholar.

Just visually looking at the object on the ground, you could tell that it was extraordinary and anomalous. It was not human.' ...

While SpaceX is not the sole new launch company, it has set the pace for reducing the cost and increasing the reliability of space launches.