SpaceX President just Declared this after Starship's tenth Splashdown both S37 & B16 Shocked China..

3 2 1. >> Finally, they did it. They really did it. SpaceX has just pulled off the most spectacular Starship flight we've ever witnessed. Every single goal they set for this mission was carried out with absolute precision. From flipping the booster, successfully deploying Starlink, reigniting the engines in space, all the way to re-entry, and Starship splash down in the ocean. There's no more doubt. Starship Flight 10 has gone down in history as the mission that marks the first real step toward landing humans on the moon and Mars. So, how exactly did this incredible flight unfold? Let's break it all down in today's episode of AlphaTech. Hundreds of people gathered at Starbase to cheer for SpaceX. Tens of thousands watched the flight across Texas and more than 2 million tuned into the live stream from all around the world. Everyone shared the same powerful emotions, excitement, pride, and relief. Because after nearly 3 months of waiting, Starship Flight 10 finally took to the skies. At liftoff, the crowd erupted in cheers, their anticipation skyhigh, hoping this mission would deliver. And it did. With millions of supporters behind them, SpaceX achieved every single milestone they had set. The flight was so flawless, so breathtaking that it gave people goosebumps, even bringing some to tears as they realized just how smoothly those ambitious goals had been accomplished. At T plus 0 seconds, the rocket roared to life, igniting all 33 Raptor 2 engines without a single failure, a clear sign that this flight was off to a flawless start. The vehicle's speed climbed rapidly, surpassing 1,000 km per hour within the very first minute before reaching max Q, the point where Starship had to push through the thickest part of the atmosphere, enduring the greatest aerodynamic pressure on its structure. This is the moment when drag and velocity combined to test the rocket strength to the limit. And yet, it powered through effortlessly, like a beast charging into the sky. At t plus 2 minutes and 20 seconds, booster 16 vented liquid oxygen to chill the common dome in preparation for stage separation. Moments later, the separation was carried out perfectly. The booster then ignited for its boost back burn, tilting onto its side to maximize surface area against the atmosphere, slowing its fall as it started the journey back to Earth. The descent itself was smooth, though heavy clouds blocked our view of exactly how the booster performed its flip. But here's where things got really interesting. At just 2 km above sea level, booster 16 successfully lit 12 of its 13 center engines to slow down, gradually throttling down to three, then two. Finally, it burned through the last of its fuel, hovering at around 100 m for a few seconds before touching down vertically. And then boom, it exploded the moment it hit the ocean's surface. But this was no failure. As we've discussed in earlier episodes, this outcome was part of the plan. The booster had already accomplished its mission. It flipped, it slowed, and it landed gently under engine power, proving the system works. Farewell, booster 16, and congratulations on a spectacular performance. Now, let's focus on ship 37. The vehicle ignited all six Raptor vacuum engines to perform hot staging, transitioning cleanly from the booster to second stage flight. It then sustained full thrust, steadily building velocity until at T + 9 minutes, it reached approximately 26,300 kmh. This coincided with a SECO, second stage engine cutoff, confirming orbital insertion at an altitude of about 150 km. With propulsion complete, all six Raptors shut down simultaneously and the spacecraft entered a ballistic coast phase in low Earth orbit. After that, a small anomaly was observed with ship 37 at t + 12 minutes and 29 seconds. The onboard cameras captured numerous fragments breaking away from beneath the AF flap. It was a minor sign, but very likely the root cause of damage that almost compromised one of the flaps later in the mission. I'll return to that issue in a moment because right now the real highlight is a historic milestone. For the very first time, Starship successfully deployed dummy Starlink satellites in orbit. This milestone came at the 19-minute mark when the live stream host confirmed that the PEZ door had opened successfully. The camera feed then switched to the inside of the payload bay. And there it was. The rotation mechanism and deployment chain for the Starlink stack began to move. The crowd erupted in cheers as the very first dummy Starlink satellite was released. Then came the second, the third, all the way through the eighth. The entire deployment sequence wrapped up flawlessly in just 6 minutes. What made it even more special was the reaction with every single satellite released. The audience cheered louder and louder, at times even more passionately than the SpaceX team itself. It was an emotional moment. After nine long years of development, Starship had finally achieved this historic first. Congratulations, SpaceX. So, if you had to describe this flight with just one word, what would it be? Honestly, I don't even know how to put it into words myself. It goes beyond anything I could have imagined. And you know what? The issues we saw in previous flights were nowhere to be found in flight 10. There were no signs of snowflakes inside the payload bay. proof that SpaceX had reinforced the fuel lines. More importantly, there were no pressurization problems, the very issue that prevented ship 35 from opening its payload door back in flight 9. But beyond fixing old problems, they also reached another milestone just as important as deploying Starlink. At t + 37 minutes and 54 seconds, SpaceX successfully reignited a seale raptor engine in orbit. a crucial demonstration that the company can reliably restart and operate Raptor engines under the extreme conditions of space. This kind of progress shows how SpaceX keeps improving Starship after every flight. It gives fans even more confidence that one day the Mars dream will be achieved, and it forces space agencies and organizations around the world to recognize their mastery in flying the largest spacecraft ever built with nearperfect precision. Still, SpaceX has a way of playing with the audience's emotions. Just as the joy and excitement peaked, tension returned when the spacecraft suffered serious damage to one of its flaps. At t + 43 minutes and 45 seconds, as ship 37 began descending for re-entry, it became clear that the trailing edge of one flap had been torn open with a sheet of steel hanging loose like ripped paper. This was extremely dangerous since during re-entry the flaps endure the brunt of the heat load. Any breach there could allow superheated plasma to penetrate and ignite the internal structure of the flap. As the vehicle dropped to an altitude of 90 km, it was still screaming through the atmosphere at nearly 26,800 km hour. The moment it hit the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere, a violent explosion erupted inside the engine bay. A sudden flash lit up the underside and shards of metal were seen scattering outward. Fortunately, the blast did not compromise the engines themselves. At this stage, a faint reddish glow began to surround the spacecraft. This occurs as Starship races through the atmosphere at hypersonic speed, compressing the air in front of it and heating the heat shield tiles to thousands of degrees. The extreme temperature ionizes atmospheric gases, mainly nitrogen and oxygen. These ionized particles emit light, most often appearing pink or violet due to the radiation from ionized nitrogen. This phenomenon is known as the plasma glow. And then the flaps began articulating to control attitude and bleed off speed. But this also meant they were taking the brunt of both aerodynamic forces and extreme heating. Imagine sticking your hand out of a moving car window. You can feel the heavy resistance pushing against it. Now scale that up to Starship's flaps. moving under insane forces while the vehicle was still traveling at hypersonic velocity. Meanwhile, plasma continued to creep into the unshielded sections of the flaps. Areas Spac X had deliberately left without heat tiles for testing. At T + 50 minutes and 53 seconds, the torn trailing edge ignited in a bright blue flame, a sign of extremely high combustion temperatures. The ripped sheet of steel clung to the flap like torn paper, while the section closest to the ship's body glowed so hot that the stainless steel itself began melting into liquid. Thankfully, just 10 minutes later, the flame subsided as Starship descended to an altitude of 42 km. The damaged aft flap had stopped burning, though it was left heavily scarred. Even so, the vehicle structure proved strong enough to prevent the tear from spreading further. The spacecraft held together firmly and continued its plunge at nearly 1 kilometer every 10 seconds without any additional issues. Both aft flaps remained fully functional as their hinge mechanisms were unaffected by the damage as the vehicle dropped below 5 km. The flaps worked at maximum effort, steering the ship and creating drag to bleed off speed. Then at t plus 1 hour 6 minutes 20 seconds, SpaceX reignited a sea level engine to flip the spacecraft back into a vertical orientation and the maneuver succeeded. Strangely, however, the telemetry display did not show how many engines were firing, likely due to a signal glitch. From a nearby recovery boat, cameras captured ship 37 glowing bright orange on its forward side, the unshielded surfaces revealing just how extreme the re-entry heating had been. Seconds later, as it hit the ocean and tipped over, the vehicle exploded violently. Even so, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause, celebrating as if Starship had just made its first landing on Mars. After watching every tense moment of this flight, how do you feel? Pretty incredible, right? SpaceX managed to turn what looked like huge risks into something almost routine, putting ship 37's fate on the line and still pushing through the brutal re-entry environment. And yet, in the end, it wasn't the fiery descent that destroyed the spacecraft. It was the moment it hit the water. Some believe SpaceX may have triggered the flight termination system, causing ship 37 to break apart on impact. It actually makes sense. This avoids legal complications since the vehicle splashed down in the Indian Ocean rather than the Gulf of America where different regulations apply. Plus, Starbase is nearly 15,700 km away, about 9,755 mi, and bringing the ship back by sea would have been an enormous logistical challenge. In that light, letting the vehicle self-destruct was likely the smarter move. Following this success, SpaceX's powerful COOG Gwyn Shotwell delivered a bold message to competitors, especially China. Don't bet against SpaceX. Her statement was more than just confidence in the company's capability and vision. It was also a warning to anyone trying to catch up. Shotwell welcomed competition, saying it helps drive the industry forward, but she was clear. It's going to be very hard to catch us. Under her leadership, SpaceX isn't only focused on getting humanity to Mars, but also on reshaping the future of aerospace itself, turning what once seemed impossible into reality. And what about Elon Musk? Normally, he would post endlessly about a flight like this, but today felt different. There was a sense of humility and seriousness in his tone. His only comment was a simple, "Great work by the SpaceX team." The words from SpaceX's two top leaders may have been brief, but the message behind them was clear. The company intends to deliver the same level of success with Starship Flight 11, the final mission of the Starship version 2 series before pushing forward to a true breakthrough with flight 12, the first of the upgraded Starship version 3 scheduled for later this year. It was also a subtle signal to rivals, especially Blue Origin, which is set to fly its NS-35 New Shepard mission tomorrow, August 28th. No matter the outcome, New Shepard remains a suborbital tourism vehicle. Starship, on the other hand, stands as the pinnacle of aerospace engineering, a machine built to carry humanity to Mars one day. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe. Alpha Techch will keep bringing you the most exciting stories about SpaceX, rockets, and space. Thanks for watching.