Step by step, SpaceX is advancing the development of a new Starship rocket.
The most recent prototype, Serial Number 15 (SN15), has just completed successful high-altitude ascent and descent.
The previous four artefacts all ran into trouble while performing their landing maneuvers, eventually destroying themselves in the process.
But SN15 had no such difficulty, making an orderly and controlled return to Earth at SpaceX's R&D facility in Texas.
A small fire broke out around the base of the car when landing but was quickly extinguished.
There is much interest in the Starship concept now that NASA has selected it to land astronauts on the Moon later this decade.
For SpaceX, the lunar missions will be just one of many applications for the new system.
The Starships is expected to replace the company's Falcon missiles.
These current vehicles perform regular missions - whether manned or unmanned - for NASA, as well as deploy satellites for the US Army and other commercial operators.
But Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, thinks the new 50-meter spacecraft can do everything, bigger and better - and not just on Earth; He says technology will take people to Mars.
Wednesday's testing continued similarly to previous prototype flights.
The unmanned SN15 engine left the launch base at the Boca Chica facility, and rose perpendicular to the thrust of three methane-burning Raptor engines.
These power units shut down in sequence as the target altitude of about 10 km (6.2 mi) approached, with the vehicle bending in the horizontal direction to descend to the ground.
This floppy descent, controlled by large panels at either end of the vehicle, aims to simulate how future operational spacecraft will enter Earth's atmosphere from orbit, providing a large surface area for the direction of travel to decelerate. .
The car is supposed to transfer back to the lower configuration just before hitting the roof.
SN8, SN9, SN10 and SN11 could not manage the operation cleanly and were destroyed shortly before the moment of landing or on or shortly after the moment of landing.
In contrast, the SN15 flipped perfectly back to upright and gently placed itself on its short legs.
SpaceX has more prototypes in various stages of preparation. It iterates design, and makes upgrades as engineers learn how to build and fly rockets.
The operational spacecraft will eventually be launched over a booster called Super Heavy.
This would include perhaps 28 Raptors, producing more than 70 meg Newtons (16 million pounds) of thrust - about twice the power of the powerful Apollo Saturn 5 rocket, which sent men to the moon.
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