May 5th - on this day in 2021, SpaceX conducted a high-altitude test flight with the Starship SN15 prototype vehicle. Launching from Suborbital Pad A at Boca Chica, Texas, the rocket reached an altitude of 10 km. It then successfully conducted the bellyflop maneuver, followed by the flip and landing burn, touching down on the nearby landing pad, despite one Raptor engine failing on ascent. | NASASpaceflight.com

SpaceX’s Starship SN15 landed safely after its high-altitude test flight, successfully performing a landing-flip maneuver to softly touch down on a nearby pad. The whole flight from launch to landing lasted just over six minutes, and this time the vehicle remained intact, marking the first 100% success of a 6.2-mile (10-kilometer) Starship high-altitude test flight. The last Starship prototype to come this close to full success was Starship SN10, which landed slightly too hard due to a helium in