"Bill Gerstenmaier, a SpaceX executive in charge of build and flight reliability, presented the findings Monday at the American Astronautical Society's Glenn Space Technology Symposium in Cleveland. The rocket lifted off on August 26 from SpaceX's launch pad in Starbase, Texas, just north of the US-Mexico border. It was the 10th full-scale test flight of SpaceX's Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage, combining to form the world's largest rocket."
"There were a couple of overarching objectives on the August 26 test flight. SpaceX needed to overcome problems with Starship's propulsion and propellant systems that plagued three previous test flights. Then, engineers were hungry for data on Starship's heat shield, an array of thousands of tiles covering the ship's belly as it streaks through the atmosphere during reentry."
Orbital missions will provide critical data on heat shield performance and enable tests of in-orbit refueling necessary for missions to Mars. Two weeks after the August 26 test flight, engineers diagnosed heat shield issues, identified improvements, and developed a preliminary plan for the next flight. The August 26 liftoff from Starbase, Texas marked the 10th full-scale test combining Super Heavy and Starship. Flight objectives included resolving propulsion and propellant problems from prior tests and collecting detailed heat shield data during reentry. The Starship guided itself to a controlled splashdown near its target but sustained visible rear-end and flap damage plus notable discoloration.
Read at WIRED
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