Posted on 08/15/2025 7:01:50 AM PDT by Red Badger
These fins are said to be among the largest aerodynamic control surfaces ever built for a rocket.
Grid fin for the next generation Super Heavy booster. SpaceX/X
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has redesigned some parts of its colossal Mars-bound Starship to improve its stability and control.
The most notable change is the removal of a landing fin from the Super Heavy booster, which will now use three redesigned grid fins that are 50% larger and stronger to improve vehicle control during descent.
The announcement was made on Wednesday via a post on X, where SpaceX shared images revealing the complex, honeycomb-like surface of the new grid fins.
The first grid fin for the next generation Super Heavy booster. The redesigned grid fins are 50% larger and higher strength, moving from four fins to three for vehicle control while enabling the booster to descend at higher angles of attack. pic.twitter.com/Nc6bavBHD8
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 13, 2025
Interestingly, these fins are said to be among the largest aerodynamic control surfaces ever built for a rocket.
Weighing in on the redesign, SpaceX CEO Musk shared the company’s announcement on X, adding a characteristically concise comment: “Best part is no part.”
Reports cite the development in the wake of recent test flight failures.
Improving descent and catch
To control the rocket’s position and flight path during descent and re-entry, grid fins manipulate the air passing through them.
With their larger surface area and increased strength, the new grid fins will give the booster greater maneuverability to descend at a steeper, more controlled angle during the landing phase.
The new fins are also being integrated into the booster’s recovery system.
These redesigned parts will align with the launch tower’s catch arms, which are designed to grab the descending booster out of the air.
SpaceX has added a new catch point to the booster and mounted the fins lower to align well with the tower’s arms. This change allows the tower to catch the returning rocket directly, eliminating the need for a landing pad.
Reportedly, the lower position of the fins also protects them from the intense heat of the rocket’s engines.
Moreover, the social media post mentioned that the fins’ internal parts, like the shaft, are now inside the booster’s main fuel tank for better protection.
VIDEO AT LINK.............
Previous failed attempts
The path to Mars hasn’t been smooth for SpaceX and its ambitious Starship program.
The redesign comes after the most recent failed test flight for the fully integrated rocket in May.
After the test flight, the Super Heavy booster failed to return to its launchpad and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico instead.
The main ship, meanwhile, continued its flight over the Indian Ocean before it too exploded.
In another incident in June, the rocket’s upper stage exploded while on a test stand during preparations for SpaceX’s tenth Starship flight.
The company is gearing up for its 10th orbital flight test, a critical demonstration of the new design.
Reportedly, the next Starship launch attempt could occur as early as Saturday, August 16, with a launch window between 6:30 am and 8:30 pm local time.
SpaceX typically keeps launch dates under wraps until closer to the time.
It is based on maritime hazard warnings from the US, which cover the waterways and sea areas around SpaceX’s Starbase facility in southern Texas.
“Navigation hazards from rocket launching activity may include, free-falling debris and/or descending vehicles or vehicle components, under various means of control,” the advisory noted, as the Independent reported.
Musk indicated in an X post earlier this month that SpaceX was aiming to launch Starship in mid-August.
The billionaire has set an ambitious goal to send the world’s largest rocket, with Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus on board, to Mars by the end of 2026.
Given the recent failures and NASA’s budget cuts, the plan may be subject to further delays.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mrigakshi Dixit Mrigakshi is a science journalist who enjoys writing about space exploration, biology, and technological innovations. Her work has been featured in well-known publications including Nature India, Supercluster, The Weather Channel and Astronomy magazine. If you have pitches in mind, please do not hesitate to email her.
About the “rationale” for doing all this.
Even if no large object (asteroid, comet, etc) ever hits the Earth, that large ball of heat and light in the sky, also known as the Sun, will eventually expand, and we humans will have to be elsewhere.
Musk talks about consciousness being multi-planetary, so that all that we are and have done is not lost.
And yes, yes, I know that God is good and God is great. I do not pretend to know all of God’s plan. Friends and family state that long before the Sun expands, we will all be called home. Perhaps. In the meantime, God gave us this IMMENSE curiosity, and the ability to increase our individual and collective abilities to push forward.
Mars is just the first logical step. We will build large and small space stations in our Solar System. Living and mining in the asteroid belt is a no brainer. People have mentioned Titan. Titan is basically a gas station. On Titan there are oceans of hydrocarbons. It rains hydrocarbons.
I wonder is musks boring machine fits inside the 30 diameter cargo section of a Starship
Time will prove you are full of stupid ideas such as living in mars. But we will both be dead before anyone can live there so no point in arguing.
Musk is never a good one to bet against, but I do wonder why a five-Raptor version wasn’t constructed and tested, that would have been able to replace the Falcon 9. Of course, the F9 has been a raging success, so...
I’m with you. Space is just another frontier, one that is more challenging. We’ll long for something as simple as redskins.
“I wonder is musks boring machine fits inside the 30 diameter cargo section of a Starship”
You betcha, they bore 12 foot tunnels and working on 21 foot version for cargo. They based in Pflugerville Texas...GO PANTHERS!!
the center core is almost always tossed into the ocean, or landed on the barge IDK the side cores are landed at the launch site.
It’s not supposed to be, but they’ve had a lot of trouble getting it to land in the handful of times they’ve used it.
spacex usually uses a flacon0 booster that has had many flights so its a last use one.., its been a while for a falcon heavy flight..
Then Martian microbes will be released and will infect everyone on Earth. WE will then become Martians.
Future self plus “chickens” will be bigger.
https://www.threads.com/@bgwlldraws72/post/DFzitigxMHK/media
That’ll screw up the song, hmm, “ain’t nobody here but us Martian chickens...”
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