SpaceX has released high-resolution photos and videos taken in the Indian Ocean. They show the moment the Starship spacecraft splashed down.
Starship was launched on August 27 from Starbase in Texas. Unlike previous tests, which ended in accidents, this time the super-heavy rocket performed at its best. The Super Heavy booster successfully completed its mission, then separated from the spacecraft and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico/Gulf of America. During the descent, SpaceX conducted a series of tests with it, including an experiment to shut down one of the engines and replace it with a backup.
As for Starship, it was launched into a suborbital trajectory. During the flight, the spacecraft deployed eight full-scale Starlink satellite simulators. Despite some “glitches,” such as collisions between models and the gateway during unloading, this stage was completed successfully.
View of Starship landing burn and splashdown on Flight 10, made possible by SpaceX’s recovery team. Starship made it through reentry with intentionally missing tiles, completed maneuvers to intentionally stress its flaps, had visible damage to its aft skirt and flaps, and still… pic.twitter.com/QgcbPN8lY4
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 28, 2025
The decisive test for Starship was its entry into the atmosphere. SpaceX specialists deliberately removed a number of heat shield tiles from the most vulnerable parts of the spacecraft to test what damage it would sustain and whether it would be able to survive landing. In addition, in the 47th minute of flight, a mysterious explosion occurred in the engine compartment, damaging the Starship.
Despite all these problems, Starship showed remarkable resilience and managed to splashdown at the designated point, where the SpaceX buoy was located. The images it took show that passing through the atmosphere caused a change in the color of the spacecraft’s heat shield, which appeared to have “rusted.”
The photographs also clearly show dark marks where Space engineers removed heat shield tiles and damage to the back skirt and flaps caused by the explosion. And what seems even more incredible is that, despite everything, the spacecraft was able to perform a rollover and landing maneuver that placed it approximately 3 meters from its target splashdown point.
