--- title: "SpaceX Releases Epic Footage From Latest Starship Launch" description: "SpaceX has released glorious new footage of its fifth high-altitude test flight of its Mars-bound rocket Starship on May 5." date: "2021-05-14" modified: "2021-05-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-footage-sn15-starship-launch" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Releases Epic Footage From Latest Starship Launch ![SpaceX has released glorious new footage of its fifth high-altitude test flight of its Mars-bound rocket Starship on May 5.]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Now in HD SpaceX has released glorious footage of its fifth high-altitude test flight of its Mars-bound rocket, Starship. https://youtu.be/7CZTLogln34 The test flight, which took place on May 5, marked the first time the Elon Musk-led company managed to land a full-scale prototype of the 165-foot rocket — without it exploding dramatically. ## One More Time The new footage shows the massive structure dubbed SN15 lift off from the launch pad at the company's facilities in South Texas, perform a dramatic "belly-flop" maneuver high above the clouds, and then reappear below the cloud cover prior to landing. It's a remarkable achievement of engineering, showing SpaceX's tremendous progress in [developing the platform]() that's soon meant to take the first astronauts to the surface of the Moon since the Apollo missions. The video shows the prototype's three Raptor engines shifting in a dance-like maneuver to ensure the rocket is upright to make a vertical landing. The maneuver has proven difficult as previous iterations of the rocket have made hard landings, causing them to blow up. A different video put together by the YouTube channel Cosmic Perspective shows the same launch in incredible slow-motion. https://youtu.be/Y_9FZDnCaoU The company has already made moves to launch SN15 for a second time, potentially the first time a Starship prototype has flown once again. Engineers moved the giant prototype back to the launch pad on Monday — much earlier than expected, as *Teslarati* reports. SpaceX also "might try to refly \[Starship\] SN15 soon," Musk wrote in a [May 7 tweet](). **More on Starship:** *[Japanese Billionaire Buys Passage to International Space Station]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()