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Following SpaceX’s successful Starship Flight 10 last week, the company shared additional images from the test and the first views from inside the ship. As the only rocket company capable of beaming down high-resolution launch images via its Starlink satellite internet constellation, SpaceX provided fresh insights into its Starship test program.
SpaceX’s Fresh Starship Flight 10 Images Show Rocket Engulfed in Plasma as It Enters Earth’s Atmosphere
After a brief update following Starship Flight 10, SpaceX has yet to share further details about the flight. This test marked significant progress over previous flights (7, 8, and 9) as it was the first time the upper stage Starship successfully splashed down in 2025. However, its descent was imperfect: the ship’s aft flaps were heavily damaged, along with orange streaks on the heat shield and a high-energy event in the engine bay.
Elon Musk addressed only one anomaly—the orange coloring of the heat shield. In an X post after Flight 10, he explained that the “red color” was due to oxidized metallic tiles during reentry. Before the test, SpaceX had confirmed it would test new tiles on Starship and leave some spots open for inspection. The white streaks were attributed to insulation areas.
SpaceX uses tens of thousands of heat-shield tiles on Starship, crucial for rapid reusability. Tests from Flight 10 were essential as all previous second-generation upper stage tests did not allow for heat shield tile testing.
Now, as SpaceX works on an update to explain the flap damage and engine bay high-energy event, it has shared new images from Starship Flight 10. The first two sets covered the Super Heavy booster at liftoff and the Starship second stage during splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The latest set is important for debunking speculation about heat shield tile loss.
The recent SpaceX imagery shows the Super Heavy booster with its grid fin visible, along with the upper stage Starship in suborbital trajectory and atmospheric reentry. The grid fin appeared to cause a major wobble on the booster as it headed towards splashdown. An update from SpaceX should address this anomaly.
Footage from local media shows that SpaceX has resumed Raptor engine testing at its Boca Chica facilities. In August, the company launched eight Falcon 9 missions, half of which were for its Starlink satellite constellation.
