SpaceX launched its Starship rocket Friday on the program's 15th test flight, sending the vehicle up on a 22-hour mission meant to test the spacecraft through a full orbital trajectory, CBS News reported.
The flight is the latest in a rapid-fire test campaign for Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. SpaceX has flown the vehicle repeatedly over the past two years, each time pushing the hardware further than the last.
Starship is central to SpaceX's plans to carry cargo and crews to the moon and eventually to Mars. NASA has also selected a Starship variant as the lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface.
The 22-hour mission profile marks a step beyond the shorter suborbital hops and brief orbital flights that characterized earlier tests. Longer flights give engineers data on how the vehicle's systems perform over an extended period in space.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said the company intends to increase flight frequency as the test program matures. Each launch produces data that feeds into the next vehicle's design.
The company has not yet released a detailed outcome of Friday's flight. SpaceX typically provides updates on mission progress through its own broadcasts and social media channels.
Starship stands roughly 400 feet tall when fully stacked, with the Super Heavy booster making up the lower half. The upper stage, also called Starship, is designed to be reusable, a key factor in SpaceX's goal of driving down launch costs.
The program has drawn scrutiny from regulators and environmental groups over launch site operations in Boca Chica, Texas, where SpaceX conducts its test flights. The Federal Aviation Administration must license each flight before liftoff.
