The flight demonstrated the spacecraft’s ability to withstand atmospheric heating during re-entry, providing unprecedented views of this process. The Starship was able to communicate with satellites in low-Earth orbit via Starlink terminals on the ship, enabling the transmission of stunning re-entry footage. This was made possible by SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket, which has launched over 5,500 Starlink satellites to create a global network. Despite some objectives remaining unmet, such as the restart of one of Starship’s Raptor engines in space, the flight marked a significant step towards SpaceX’s goal of making human life multi-planetary.
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