SpaceX’s Starship Flight 10 Stuns With Fiery Orange Reentry and Major Milestones

SpaceX’s Starship program just cleared one of its most crucial hurdles. After three disappointing test attempts, Flight 10 finally delivered a textbook mission – and the visuals were as stunning as the achievement itself.

The upper stage Starship splashed down in the Indian Ocean after meeting all of its primary objectives, marking the first real success of 2025 for Elon Musk’s ambitious Mars rocket.

What captured everyone’s attention, however, was the ship’s eerie orange streaking. Fresh images released by SpaceX show the massive rocket coated in rust-colored tones on its Earth-facing side during descent. Speculation about tile loss spread quickly, but Musk clarified the phenomenon: some experimental metallic heat shield tiles oxidized under stress, while other areas intentionally lacked tiles to test insulation performance. Crucially, the tiles largely held firm – a huge step forward after past failures with pieces detaching mid-reentry.

Starship’s heat shield has been one of the trickiest engineering challenges. Designed for rapid reuse, it requires balancing extreme protection with the ability to withstand dozens of flights. Musk called the shield “one of the most complex parts of the rocket,” and Flight 10 proved its upgraded design is finally moving in the right direction.

Beyond the heat shield drama, Flight 10 also tested core mission capabilities. In orbit, Starship successfully reignited a Raptor engine – vital for proving the craft can maneuver and return from space. It also deployed dummy Starlink satellites, a trial run for the mega-constellation that already serves more than seven million users globally. Both milestones were necessary steps toward gaining FAA approval for full orbital operations.

Meanwhile, the Super Heavy booster provided a show of its own, with all 33 engines roaring to life at liftoff. But the upper stage’s fiery reentry and haunting orange glow stole the spotlight, leaving the aerospace community buzzing. Whether you see it as a “battle-hardened” machine or a scorched test article, Flight 10 demonstrated that Starship is edging closer to becoming the fully reusable, heavy-lift workhorse SpaceX promises.