MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. In an interesting turn of events, space is the only sphere where Russia and the United States continue to collaborate, and Moscow watches the goings-on of the American space program with great interest, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Commenting on the successful completion of the fifth test launch of the super-heavy rocket with the Starship spacecraft carried out by US company SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, the spokesman said: "Space, by the way, interestingly enough, remains the only sphere where we interact, where our two space agencies work together." "We are following with great interest the development of the US space program. We follow all the news in this regard," Peskov pointed out.

During the flight, which lasted just over an hour, Starship reached an altitude of 212 kilometers and splashed down in the Indian Ocean in a designated area, despite the fact that, as in the previous launch, one of the flaps overheated as Starship entered the atmosphere. A bright flash was seen after the splashdown, but the broadcasters did not comment on its cause.

SpaceX also achieved another landmark - the first controlled return to Earth for the super-heavy rocket. After about eight minutes, the rocket descended from an altitude of more than 100 kilometers and made a soft landing on a special Mechazilla platform installed on the grounds of the spaceport in Boca Chica, Texas. The launch was watched live by about four million people.

According to the developer's plans, the Starship space system will be universal and will be used in different versions for manned flights into Earth's orbit, satellite launches and missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as to more distant celestial bodies. The reusable super-heavy booster and spacecraft are designed to perform a vertical landing on Earth. According to the current project, the total height of the space system is 121 meters (Starship - 50 meters, booster - 71 meters), its diameter is nine meters, and its payload is about 100-150 tons.