Starship is the reason Elon Musk founded SpaceX. It’s the vehicle that will carry and land humans on Mars.

As SpaceX’s multipurpose spacecraft, Starship will be capable of launching substantial payloads to any destination in the solar system, perform lunar exploration for NASA, allow humans to live and work on Mars, and conduct intercontinental point-to-point transportation to destinations across Earth's surface.

During SN15's high altitude test flight, SpaceX will test three new and upgraded Raptor engines. This will include relighting all three engines mid-air as part of the ship's landing sequence. Many other upgrades to Starship's propellant tanks, manufacturing processes, and heatshield tile installation are also flying for the first time on SN15.

SpaceX's goal is for SN15 to be the first Starship to successfully complete a flight with a soft, intact landing a few minutes after launch as the company prepares for the first orbital flight of a Starship as early as this summer.

Overall, the Starship system has two main parts: the Super Heavy booster (first stage) and Starship (second stage) itself. These current suborbital test flights only involve the Starship part.

During trips to and from space, Starship will serve as the spacecraft itself: deploying large payloads, carrying humans, and serving as a reentry and landing craft just as the Space Shuttles did from 1981 to 2011.

The overall system (rocket booster and spacecraft) has undergone a few name changes over the years, including Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), and the Mars Colonial Transporter.

In November 2018, the system was formally named Starship, with the booster receiving the name Super Heavy.

In April 2020, NASA selected a lunar version of Starship as one of three lander designs to compete for contracts to provide crewed landing and launch capability to and from the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program.

One year later, NASA awarded SpaceX and its lunar Starship design the only contract for returning humans to the surface of the Moon.

In operational mode, Starship will be able to take payloads of at least 100,000 kg / 220,400 lb to any location in the solar system.

Image: Deven Perez for Supercluster

Located on the U.S.-Mexico border along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, Boca Chica Village was selected by SpaceX in 2014 as the site for the company's privately-owned orbital launch facility.

Initially, Boca Chica was intended to host Falcon Heavy launches, but the plans soon shifted to a more ambitious project: Starship—SpaceX's multi-purpose transportation spacecraft.

Starbase became operational in 2019, beginning with testing campaigns of the Raptor engines that power Starship.

Image courtesy of Tom Cross for Supercluster.

The entire Starship system is designed for complete reusability.

To achieve this, SpaceX has built a landing pad at Boca Chica to enable testing and recovery of Starships.

SpaceX is also building a Super Heavy recovery system that would see the launch pad’s tower catch the booster as it flies back to the launch site for recovery and rapid reuse.

Image: SpaceX