SpaceX’s lesson from last Starship flight? “We need to seal the tiles.”

Two weeks have passed since SpaceX's latest Starship test flight, prompting engineers to assess the performance of its heat shield and outline necessary improvements for future missions. Bill Gerstenmaier, a SpaceX executive overseeing build and flight reliability, shared these insights during his presentation at the American Astronautical Society's Glenn Space Technology Symposium in Cleveland on Monday. The rocket successfully launched on August 26 from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas, marking the tenth full-scale test of the Super Heavy booster combined with the Starship upper stage—the largest rocket ever built. One of the primary goals of this test was to rectify issues related to the propulsion and propellant systems that had hindered previous flights. Engineers also sought crucial data regarding the heat shield, which consists of thousands of tiles that protect the spacecraft during its reentry into the atmosphere. "Things went extremely well," Gerstenmaier noted, highlighting the success of the flight. Just over an hour post-launch, the Starship executed a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean, just northwest of Australia. The vehicle descended within 10 feet of its intended landing spot, near a buoy designed to monitor its final moments in the water. Footage captured by the buoy and a nearby drone depicted the Starship's descent, where it initially fell belly-first before igniting three of its six Raptor engines to right itself just before touching down. However, the spacecraft did not come away unscathed. Observers noted visible damage on the tail and flaps, along with a distinctive rusty orange streak along its side. SpaceX founder Elon Musk explained that this discoloration resulted from the oxidation of metallic heat shield tiles used to evaluate their effectiveness compared to the ceramic tiles typically employed. In a notable improvement from earlier flights, Musk stated that almost all the heat shield tiles remained intact from launch through landing this time around, indicating progress in their design and durability.