Elon Musk Podcast

Starship’s new "Crunch Wrap" Heat Shield

6 snips
Sep 12, 2025
Discover the latest breakthroughs in SpaceX's Starship heat shield technology, including the innovative 'Crunch Wrap' material designed for enhanced durability. Explore the engineering challenges faced during recent test flights and how they inform future missions. The discussion highlights the shift from suborbital to orbital flights, landing strategies, and the quest for reusability. Get insights into upcoming endeavors, including preparations for NASA's Artemis program and ambitions for Mars exploration.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Flight 10 Was A Major Technical Win

  • Flight 10 was a major technical win: Starship completed staging and guided itself to a controlled splashdown over an hour after liftoff.
  • Nearly every ceramic tile survived reentry, showing the overall shield approach is promising despite some visible thermal wear.
ANECDOTE

Three Metal Tiles Experiment Failed

  • SpaceX deliberately mounted three experimental metallic tiles to compare them with ceramic tiles on Flight 10.
  • The metal tiles oxidized heavily and failed to insulate effectively during reentry.
INSIGHT

Gaps Drive Localized Heating And Ablation

  • Engineers found heat concentrated and eroded where tile gaps were largest, sometimes ablation reached the backup thermal barrier.
  • Exposed test areas produced white blotches from ablation, confirming direct heating effects on underlying layers.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app