The Most Interesting Ship at Christmas Island
Ship 40’s tow to Christmas Island turns a remarkable Starship recovery into a witty story of engineering, espionage and high-stakes salvage in the Indian Ocean.
Starship
23posts
How Many Broken Tiles Can Starship Afford?
Flight 13 exposed Starship’s heat-shield challenge. A break-even model shows when tile repairs, turnaround and payload make reuse beat expendable rockets.
Starship 13 and the Strange Triumph of Not Exploding
Starship 13 deployed 20 real satellites, restarted a Raptor and landed intact; Super Heavy nailed ascent and boostback, though its final splashdown was hard.
The Rocket, the Share Price, and the Rest of Earth
Can Starship Flight 13 lift SpaceX’s valuation as well as its ambitions? A look at Starlink, orbital AI, Mars—and market expectations.
Old Fire, New Fire: Why SLS and Starship Burn So Differently
A clear look at why SLS and Starship represent two very different rocket philosophies, from propellant choice to reuse.
Artemis II Does Not Make Starship Obsolete. It Makes the Case for It.
Artemis II proves deep-space capability is back, but it also highlights why Starship still matters for the next step.
White Tiles, Hard Lessons
Starship’s heat-shield troubles show why building reusable spacecraft is less about perfection than learning faster than failure.
To the Naysayers: Shards of Envy in the Golden Age of SpaceX
A defense of SpaceX’s messy progress, arguing that broken test flights can become part of the design’s strength.
Starship Soars: Flight 11 Triumphs and V3 Sets Sights on the Stars
Starship Flight 11 becomes a bridge between today’s test campaign and the larger ambitions of the V3 architecture.
Flight 10, Starship, and the Art of Learning by Fire
Starship Flight 10 shows how SpaceX turns dramatic failure modes into data for the next design iteration.
SpaceX’s Starship Flight 10: MarkSetBot Buoy Makes a Splash in the Indian Ocean Landing
A small buoy in the Indian Ocean becomes an unexpected witness to Starship’s increasingly precise flight-test choreography.
Starship Flight 10: first payload deploy, controlled splashdown — and a curious nudge at the airlock
Starship Flight 10 combines major milestones with one odd airlock moment that makes the test especially worth unpacking.
Starship Flight 10, Part II: Boom, Bust, or Breakthrough?
A second look at Starship Flight 10 weighs spectacle against substance, asking what the test really proved.
Landing on Mars: No Chopsticks, No Problem! How Starship Will Stick the Landing Without a Red Carpet
Landing Starship on Mars will not need launch-tower chopsticks, but it will demand a very different kind of precision.
Starship 9: A Cosmic Adventure with a Stubborn Door and a Stuttering Start
Starship 9’s awkward details make the test memorable, showing how small mechanisms can complicate giant ambitions.
Starship Flight 9: Skipping the Rehearsal, Aiming for the Stars
Skipping a rehearsal can look reckless or efficient; Starship Flight 9 offers evidence for both interpretations.
Debris Trajectories from Starship 7 Test Flight
Starship 7’s debris path turns a failed test into a practical lesson in breakup dynamics and public risk.
SpaceX's Starship: A Leap, A Hop, and A Splash in the Cosmic Pond
Starship’s explosive test history becomes a story about ambition, iteration, and the public theater of engineering.
To Infinity and Beyond: The Magnetic Pull of SpaceX Launches on Space Enthusiasts and the Cosmic Race
SpaceX launches attract devoted watchers because they combine spectacle, uncertainty, and the feeling of history being made live.
The Galactic Dilemmas: Why Star Trek and Star Wars Characters Don't Use "Obvious" Tactics
Science fiction battles often avoid obvious tactics because drama, world-building, and physics rarely want the same thing.
Flight Termination Systems in Spaceflight: A Historical Overview and a Look at SpaceX's Starship Incident
Flight termination systems are grim but essential, protecting people when rockets stop behaving like rockets should.
The First Flight of SpaceX's Starship: A Leap Forward Despite Aborted Test
Starship’s first flight test failed loudly but still marked a consequential step in reusable heavy-lift development.
The Power Behind SpaceX Starship: Raptor Engines and The Future of Space Travel
Raptor engines are more than Starship’s power source; they embody SpaceX’s bet on reuse, methane, and scale.