✅ Confirmed
Elon Musk
Noticia
Elon Musk confirms secret heat shield test on Starship Flight 13
Elon Musk revealed that SpaceX conducted a secret internal test of the heat shield on Starship Flight 13, which took place last Friday. The test involved subjecting the ceramic heat shield tiles to intentionally high acceleration to assess their adhesion under high dynamic pressure. This flight, the second with the Starship V3 version, met all mission objectives and showed significant progress in tile attachment, which had issues previously. SpaceX improved attachment by using pins instead of adhesives, and Musk stated the test was successful.
- Starship Flight 13 performed secret heat shield test
- Intentionally high acceleration tested tile adhesion
- Starship V3 used in second flight with attachment improvements
🔎 Why it matters: The heat shield test on Flight 13 with Starship V3 is crucial to validate system integrity under extreme acceleration conditions.
📈 Upside: Improved tile attachment with pins reduces losses during flight.
📉 Risk: Not applicable.
🤖 Automated analysis and summary. Every story links its original source for verification.