Starship’s Heat Shield Looked Great After Flight 13, But Experts Spotted Something Troubling
Starship Version 3, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, had an overall successful second test flight on Friday. He and two other spaceflight industry experts—former NASA astronaut Charles Camarda and the head of the Trump administration’s NASA transition team, Charles Miller—reportedly analyzed images of Starship after it splashed down in the Indian Ocean on Friday. Credit where credit is due Before we dive into the issues, let’s get a few things straight.
- ▪Starship Version 3, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, had an overall successful second test flight on Friday.
- ▪He and two other spaceflight industry experts—former NASA astronaut Charles Camarda and the head of the Trump administration’s NASA transition team, Charles Miller—reportedly analyzed images of Starship after it splashed down in the Indian
- ▪Credit where credit is due Before we dive into the issues, let’s get a few things straight.
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| Original publisher | Gizmodo |
| Canonical URL | https://gizmodo.com/starships-heat-shield-looked-great-after-flight-13-but-experts-spotted-something-troubling-2000791792 |
| Publication time | Tue, 28 Jul 2026 18:40:12 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-07-28T18:55:27.025Z |
| Last seen | 2026-07-28T18:55:27.025Z |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Starship Version 3, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, had an overall successful second test flight on Friday. Both the rocket and its booster demonstrated key capabilities, including the first deployment of SpaceX’s next-generation Starlink satellites, but experts say one thing still stands in the way of achieving Starship’s ultimate goal.cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({"playerId":"92b7b46b-43ed-4e0e-b21b-2c999302d9d7","settings":{"advertising":{"macros":{"AD_UNIT":"/23178111854/od.gizmodo.com/article","CHILD_UNIT":"article","POST_ID":"2000791792","POST_TYPE":"post","CHANNEL":"science","SECTION":"space","SUBSECTION":"","CATEGORIES":"space","TAGS":"heat-shields,rocket-launches,spacex,starship","NOP":"0"},"timeBeforeFirstAd":0}}}).render("cnx-player-main")}); “Starship’s current…
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