Starship flew its 13th test flight on a Friday, and by most measures it went well. Ars Technica reported that the next flight could take the vehicle into orbit, let it start delivering satellites and possibly bring it back to be caught by the launch tower.
One problem has not gone away. Roughly 18,000 ceramic tiles cover the vehicle’s underbelly on its fiery return through the atmosphere, and some experts doubt that shield can support the frequent, low-cost flying SpaceX wants.
“A dead-end”
“Starship’s current thermal protection system is a dead-end for all missions that require full and rapid reusability,” said Dan Rasky, a former NASA engineer. Rasky spent nearly four decades at NASA Ames Research Center studying heat shield materials, and he co-invented PICA, the material that protects Crew Dragon.
NASA ran into the same wall with the Space Shuttle, which wore thousands of lightweight ceramic tiles over its aluminum structure. The tiles did their job reasonably well. Quick reuse never arrived. Every tile needed inspection after each flight, so turning an orbiter around stayed slow and expensive.
SpaceX does hold some advantages over the shuttle. Starship’s steel structure tolerates heat far better and can withstand up to 800 degrees Celsius where tiles fail, so some burn-through is probably acceptable.
