Recently, SpaceX staff gave company supporters very good news about SN15. Elon Musk might be preparing to launch his Mars rocket again after May 5th, 2021, success.
The first starship prototype SN15 successfully completed a test flight after being launched to a 32,000 feet (10 km) height and safely touching down at SpaceX's South Texas Boca Chica site. If you want to know more about what happened with Starship prototype SN15 after its first successful test flight and what plans SpaceX has with this Starship prototype rocket, go ahead and give this article a read. We did our best to understand the Starship project's future from what Elon Musk tweeted about it and the information we have on how Starship was built.
Where is SN15 now?
SN15 latest news doesn't say anything about the whereabouts of a Starship prototype SN15 but seeing that SpaceX gained its success through aiming towards reusability of spacecraft and analyzing Elon Musk's tweets, we concluded that SpaceX keeps the Starship prototype rocket safe at one of its engineering repair sites and works hard on improving upcoming Starship prototypes. Most Starship prototypes are built as completely REUSABLE transportation systems that can send people and goods to the Earth's orbit and even the Moon, Mars, or other planets.
According to SpaceX's official website, the development and test flights of Starship SN15, as well as upcoming Starship prototypes, are all about advancing knowledge of constructing a totally reusable space transportation system intended to take passengers and freight on long interplanetary journeys so that humanity can advance in the space exploration sector. SpaceX doesn't waste any space equipment and makes sure that its spacecraft land safely back home so that they can be repaired and reused. And since the SN15 launch and landing were both successes, SpaceX is now focused on improving its Starship prototype systems.
Will we witness another launch of Starship prototype SN15?
SpaceX SN15 project might suffer some delays, and it's important to note there is in fact, no assurance that Starship prototype SN15 will be flying again, even if the company reinstalls it on a launch platform. Before any further flights, SpaceX will surely conduct at least another tank-proof rocket test and a static fire test of its Raptor engines. Orbital Today has info that one or two of the three Raptors on the 15th Starship prototype will get removed so that they are more thoroughly examined. An entire replacement is not out of the question if problems or damage that escaped at early inspections after test flight are discovered.
Starship prototype SN15 could make history as the first full-scale rocket prototype to fly twice, but this is unlikely. What we can all do for now is watch what SpaceX and Elon Musk are tweeting about it. Musk made it clear that there's work being done on the SN15, even if the 12, 13, and 14 serial prototypes were skipped for flight because they never got assembled. However, the Starship prototype SN15 had major upgrades after Starship 11, not to mention that it performed outstandingly in flight and landed safely. This proves that it's a state-of-the-art rocket that deserves to fly again. But when another Starship prototype flies, you might ask?
When will SN15 launch again?
SN15 relaunch is possible, as a few days after landing, Musk said on Twitter early that he might attempt to relaunch "soon." Understanding what the space mogul means by the word "soon" is never easy. Earlier, there has usually been a one-month gap between the Starship test flights. Being the first vehicle that survived a flight, SN15 could be ready for an encore fast. Unfortunately, no one would know how fast, considering SpaceX's engineering team is still working on improving it. For now, we can only hope for news that gives us another Starship prototype launch date. However, it will most probably be assigned another serial number this time.
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The Federal Aviation Administration pointed out that Starship prototypes 15-17 are now cleared for flying. How this relates to a potential re-flight of SN15 and its possible relaunch date is unknown. According to Musk, SN15 improvements include many design changes across structural, engine, avionics, and software. These changes presumably include fixes for some issues that didn't allow SpaceX to stick the landing without a quick unplanned disassembly and are sure to take some time before they are implemented. It's good that we are at least up to date on how SpaceX is working to make its new Starship prototype better and finally get humanity to land on Mars.
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