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SpaceX achieves first Starship splashdown, heat-shield concerns linger

7/29/2026

44 6 Full Breakdown

Summary

SpaceX Splashdown

SpaceX landed the Starship upper-stage intact in the Indian Ocean on July 24, 2026, a first splashdown.
Elon Musk posted on July 28 that a recovery ship was being sent.
Former NASA engineer Dan Rasky, former astronaut Charles Camarda and NASA transition chief Charles Miller said heat-shield tiles showed streaks and cracks, indicating hot-gas penetration and warned the heat-shield remains a major obstacle to rapid reusability.

Summary

SpaceX Launches

SpaceX launched 24 Starlink satellites on July 25, raising the active constellation to 10,865.
Booster B1100 landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, marking its eighth Pacific recovery.
Starship test data helped NASA approve Starlink payloads for the Artemis III crewed mission next year.
A Falcon 9 launch on July 30 with a 7-11 p.m. window will be visible from Phoenix, departing from SLC-4E.

History

Historical Context

NASA’s Apollo 11 command module splashed down on July 24 1969 after an eight-day mission, continuing the Mercury-Gemini-Apollo tradition of ocean recoveries that persists in Artemis. Decades later, SpaceX’s Starship has performed propulsive splashdowns, showing how commercial providers now handle re-entry for NASA’s future lunar flights in future and crew recovery during operations.

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SpaceX Splashdown

SpaceX landed the Starship upper-stage intact in the Indian Ocean on July 24, 2026, a first splashdown.
Elon Musk posted on July 28 that a recovery ship was being sent.
Former NASA engineer Dan Rasky, former astronaut Charles Camarda and NASA transition chief Charles Miller said heat-shield tiles showed streaks and cracks, indicating hot-gas penetration and warned the heat-shield remains a major obstacle to rapid reusability.

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