What SpaceX just did in Starship Flight 10 Shocked the entire industry!

Hundreds of people gathered at Starbase to cheer for SpaceX. Tens of thousands watched the flight across Texas and more than two 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 plus0 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 kmh 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 + 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 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 km hour. 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 a 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 19minute 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 near perfect 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 plus 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 kilometers, it was still screaming through the atmosphere at nearly 26,800 km per 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 plus 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 seale 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 COO 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. Looking back from flight 9 to flight 10, it definitely wasn't an easy ride. The flight was originally scheduled for late June. But the explosion of ship 36 at Massie site caused a long delay, almost 2 months. During that waiting period, SpaceX worked tirelessly to repair the test area at Massie site, spending tens of millions of dollars just to restore it. At the same time, their engineers held meetings to plan modifications to the BQD on OOLM pad 1 so it could properly connect with the upper stage of Starship and perform a static fire. And the wait felt like a whole year. Flight 10, originally set for August 24th, was delayed the first time due to ground system issues. Then it moved to August 25th, but the weather was terrible with massive electric clouds forcing another pause. It wasn't until the third attempt that they finally launched successfully. Just like the saying goes, third times the charm. In the end, it was exciting to see ship 37 take over and flawlessly complete all the missions of ship 36. But while everyone was focused on the vehicle and its recent achievements, the launchpad itself, a system often overlooked, faced serious issues. There wasn't much time to celebrate as SpaceX engineers had to sit down and figure out a solution for the badly damaged BQD on the OM. To really understand the severity of the situation, take a look at this video. Do you see that? Just seconds after ignition, all 33 Raptor engines on booster 16 roared to life, lifting the booster into the sky. Thick steam from the water deluge system erupted to protect the launchpad. But the raw power of the booster was overwhelming. At full thrust, the engines produced nearly 7,600 tons of force and combustion temperatures reached 2,500° C, about 4,500° F. The BQD began retracting its connection arms, and the hood closed to shield itself from the intense heat. But that was pointless. Just seconds later, the searing flame struck the BQD directly, causing severe burning so intense that it glowed white hot. With damage this extreme, the fuel lines inside were likely destroyed, and the thin metal hood couldn't protect the internal systems. The QD system was scorched, not just on the surface, but deep inside, with some areas showing cracks and partially melted edges. If a robust system like the QD could be this badly damaged, it's safe to assume that thinner fuel lines and smaller ground connections farther away were likely affected as well. Now, with the visible damage, SpaceX may need major reinforcements or even complete replacement of some components. Naturally, this will impact the next flight since the launchpad is responsible for a crucial step, the booster static fire test. Without a fully functional QD system, this test simply can't happen. That brings us to the big question for flight 11. Which vehicle will perform the static fire at the OM once the BQD is repaired? Based on the information we've gathered, there are currently two boosters likely to take part in flight 11. First is booster 15, which landed successfully and was caught by Mechazilla during flight 8. The second is booster 17, a brand new stage. However, for the next flight, booster 15 seems more likely. In flight 10, SpaceX collected valuable data on pushing the vehicle to its limits using high attack angles with booster 16. This data will help them optimize fuel for landing, so they probably won't repeat the same extreme test. Booster 15 is a previously flown rocket, just like booster 14 was reused in flight 9 to test a booster, and the data collected then helped maximize its reusability potential. Booster 17, on the other hand, has been sitting in the rocket garden untouched for over 4 months. There's also word that it was being kept as a backup in case booster 16 had to divert during flight 10. So, which booster do you think will fly, B-15 or B17? Comment your answer below and let's see who gets it right. Personally, I'd go with Bravo 15 paired with ship 38 for this mission. Speaking of ship 38, SpaceX seems to be moving quite fast with preparations. On August 27th, cameras at Starbase captured a crane delivering one of the aft flaps into Mega Bay 2. And the very next day, the remaining flap was brought in as well. As for the Raptor engines, ship 38 had them installed in mid August, meaning the only major steps left are attaching the two forward flaps and finishing the heat shield. Well, it looks like they'll still conduct not only the cryo test, but also the static fire for ship 38 at the launchpad. Because Massie site hasn't just been repaired, it's been significantly upgraded. On August 6th, observers spotted the Starship static fire stand still being reinforced with steel beams around the new stand with replacement pipe work for the flame deflector staged nearby, clearly indicating damage to the old deflector. At the same time, they've begun shifting booster static fire operations over to Massie. That means in the future, booster static fires may no longer be carried out at the launchpad. Instead, the site is being optimized for version three vehicles. Here's an example. On August 21st, they completed installation of the new booster quick disconnect for version three. Looks pretty simple, doesn't it? That also means SpaceX will once again have to go through the complicated process of removing the booster clamps at OM pad 1, then installing and reinforcing the ring wall stand, a sort of stool that allows ship 38 to sit securely on top. After that, they'll need to stabilize it properly before running the vehicle's test campaign. But this will almost certainly take place only after booster 15 completes its static fire. Since B-15 is a reused vehicle, they won't be running just a light check this time. As for the mission itself, if booster 15 proves to be in good condition, SpaceX will attempt a dramatic Mechazilla catch, showing that the booster isn't just capable of flying once, but multiple times. That would be a powerful demonstration of the company's original goal, rockets that are fast, affordable, and safe to reuse. So, what about ship 38's mission? Will it be caught by the tower this time? The answer is no. After Starship flight 10, Elon Musk made it clear. Starship catch is probably flight 13 to 15, depending on how well version 3 flights go. The Starship flown in flight 10 was a version two, which shares the same size as the upcoming version 3 rockets, but with lower payload capacity and weaker thrust from both the ship and its booster. Musk noted that only one more V2 will fly before the transition. Starting next year, V3 will be the workhorse through 2026, while V4, SpaceX's most capable design yet, may well be the first Starship to carry humans to orbit. Musk also mentioned that SpaceX hopes to attempt the first Starship catch in 2025, but realistically, this timeline may slip into 2026 due to scheduling constraints. To stay on track, SpaceX will need to get through flight 11 soon, flight 12 by the end of the year and only then move toward Musk's projected flight 13 catch attempt. It wouldn't be unprecedented, but with only three test flights completed this year, the company will have to accelerate its launch cadence significantly. And if SpaceX's pace remains this slow, government intervention may eventually come into play. Why? Because Washington has shown increasing interest in taking ownership stakes in defense contractors. Every year the US government spends hundreds of billions on defense companies. Yet during Trump's administration, officials hinted they wanted more than just goods and services. They wanted ownership or equity. In an interview, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik revealed that the Pentagon was considering equity stakes in defense suppliers. He argued that current funding for munitions procurement had been too frugal and needed to be rethought. The idea floated at the same time the government was weighing a potential stake in Intel shocked many analysts. Big defense primes are strong enough to push back against such demands. But for a fast growing private company like SpaceX, tighter government oversight could prove especially contentious. Something Elon Musk would resist fiercely. After all, Musk has publicly sparred with Trump himself just months ago. Unlike struggling players such as Intel or MP Materials, which sold equity for federal funding, SpaceX and the top defense primes are financially solid. Boeing, for example, raised $24 billion in equity last year alone. Back in June, as Musk's relationship with Trump soured, former White House adviser Steve Bannon even suggested using the Defense Production Act to take control of SpaceX. That's unlikely. The Supreme Court ruled in 1952 that nationalizing steel plants was unconstitutional and seizure powers under the DPA were repealed in 2009. Besides, SpaceX dominates launch services and low Earth orbit satellites. The US government has few alternatives for contracts worth some $13 billion, leaving Washington with little real leverage. As Kimberly Civersson Burke of Quilty Space Consulting explained, Musk has no incentive to sell shares. He doesn't need cash and he doesn't want outside oversight. Even a single external shareholder would change the dynamics entirely. Transparency, board seats, audits, that's Elon's worst nightmare, she said. The Pentagon declined to comment, but the White House noted it would continue seeking arrangements to ensure taxpayers benefit from federal investments. Historically, the government has taken equity stakes only to rescue companies in crisis, such as banks and GM during the Great Recession or airlines during the pandemic. Trump's approach is different, targeting healthy companies. Recently, the administration demanded golden shares in US Steel and purchased a 10% stake in Intel in exchange for funding. Analysts warned that forcing defense contractors into such deals could spark conflicts of interest, undermine investor confidence, and even chill venture capital in defense startups. Clearly, the road ahead for the Starship program is filled with challenges. issues can arise from unexpected places, whether from politics or technical setbacks within the SpaceX itself. While such obstacles may slow progress, they also serve as an important reminder. Even in an era of rapid innovation, SpaceX must stay vigilant, methodical, and precise in addressing every problem. The QD failure is just one example, a single component in Starship's massive and complex launch system. Yet, it highlights a much broader truth. To succeed in the quest for space, SpaceX must continuously refine, improve, and adapt. It's a monumental task, but not an impossible one. Right now, all eyes are on how the company will overcome this first hurdle on the path to flight 11. The repairs at pad A will be the next test, not just of hardware, but of SpaceX's ability to maintain momentum in the face of setbacks. With determination, innovation, and relentless drive, SpaceX will keep pushing forward, one launch at a time. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to support us so we can bring you more updates like this. Thanks for watching.