Posted on 08/25/2025 4:44:10 PM PDT by Momaw Nadon
The tenth flight test of Starship is preparing to launch as soon as Monday, August 25. The launch window will open at 6:30 p.m. CT.
The primary test objectives for the booster will be focused on its landing burn and will use unique engine configurations. One of the three center engines used for the final phase of landing will be intentionally disabled to gather data on the ability for a backup engine from the middle ring to complete a landing burn. The booster will then transition to only two center engines for the end of the landing burn, entering a full hover while still above the ocean surface, followed by shutdown and drop into the Gulf of America.
The Starship upper stage will again target multiple in-space objectives, including the deployment of eight Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites. The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon entry. A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is planned.
The flight test includes several experiments focused on enabling Starship’s upper stage to return to the launch site. A significant number of tiles have been removed from Starship to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle during reentry. Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry. On the sides of the vehicle, functional catch fittings are installed and will test the fittings’ thermal and structural performance, along with a section of the tile line receiving a smoothed and tapered edge to address hot spots observed during reentry on Starship’s sixth flight test. Starship’s reentry profile is designed to intentionally stress the structural limits of the upper stage’s rear flaps while at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure.
(Excerpt) Read more at spacex.com ...
I’d say that was a pretty successful flight / test!
I happened to watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtUMt0gsqrs
Prolly deserves it’s own thread.
Thanks for the link. I watched this feed from launch. He talked the whole way up. Could hardly hear the rocket or SpaceX commentary. I almost wanted to donate money just to tell him to STFU.
Cleanest Starship test I’ve seen. Still need to do some work on the flaps and heat shield, but they’re definitely improved over previous reentries.
Congrats to SpaceX on a very successful Flight 10!!!
We'll have to establish a colony before Islam eventually ends up taking over the world.
IMO, we just need to do a better job of diverting the Muslims into taking on China and India. I doubt they can beat either. From a religious standpoint, the Muslims have a bigger beef with those two cultures, than ours.
And in any event, we made good progress today. :-)
The truth is, I planned to post a topic with the live link in it, and time flew before the ship did. 🐱🚀
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4336945/posts
Thank you Paul. Just what I was looking for.
All of the stuff we saw that looked bad, was intentional - the ship was intentionally being over-stressed. The test was 100% successful.
This test showed that the thermal management system on the flaps is not yet ready.
They need to demonstrate a reentry with no burn-through. They have not yet done this.
You are the only one that thinks that, even SpaceX thought it was 100% successful.
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