SpaceX has successfully completed a test fire of the centre core of its Falcon Heavy rocket, which will be the world's most powerful rocket when put into operation.
The Falcon Heavy rocket is key to the company's plans of sending manned missions to the Moon, and eventually to Mars.
Its first launch is one of 27 which SpaceX has planned for this calendar year, more than triple the eight flights it managed in 2016.
According to the company, the Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two.
SpaceX has now released footage of a successful test of the rocket's centre core which took place at its rocket development facility in Texas last week.
SpaceX aims to safely land rockets after launching them for re-use, and estimates the launch cost of the Falcon Heavy, which is capable of lifting 63,000kg into low Earth orbit, at $90m.
The company, which was founded by billionaire Elon Musk, made history in March when it launched a rocket which had successfully returned after a previous launch.
SpaceX has claimed that Falcon Heavy "was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars".
The rocket design is heavily based on the Falcon rockets used by the firm to make deliveries to the International Space Station.
The company says the rocket can lift the equivalent of a fully loaded 737 jetliner, complete with passengers, luggage and fuel, into orbit.
It aims to be able to lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational rocket, the Delta IV Heavy, at what SpaceX claims is a third of the cost because the rocket can be landed and recycled.
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