SN15 was launched from the launch pad of the test complex in Boca Chica, Texas. In a few minutes, the spacecraft reached an altitude of about 10 kilometers. Then one of the three Raptor rocket engines was turned off. After that, the Starship prototype began to descend and landed vertically at the set point.
Up to this point, Starship test flights have ended unsuccessfully. In March 2021, the spacecraft crashed during landing, and even earlier, in December 2020 and February 2021, prototypes exploded immediately after touching the landing pad. The SN15 prototype has seen hundreds of design improvements over previous versions, Elon Musk noted.
SpaceX is developing Starship to launch people and cargo to the Moon and Mars in the future. Earlier, NASA signed a nearly $3 billion contract with SpaceX to build a lunar version of Starship to carry astronauts to the Moon as part of the Artemis mission. However, the contract was suspended because of the protests by SpaceX competitors Blue Origin and Dynetics.