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Hey everybody. 
Welcome back to the Elon Musk 

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Podcast. 
This is a show where we discuss 

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the critical crossroads that 
shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The 

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Boring Company, and Neurolink. 
I'm your host, Will Walden. 

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SpaceX has begun turning 
Starship into a fully 

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operational launch system. 
A Flight 9 reused the Super 

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Heavy booster for the first 
time, tested a redesigned 

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staging system, and pushed 
forward with in space payload 

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deployment. 
A Flight 10 validated many of 

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those upgrades with a successful
mission that returned precise 

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flight data and proved critical 
improvements to guidance, re 

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entry protection and engine 
relay capabilities. 

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But even with that momentum, 
failures in Flight 9 exposed 

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structural weaknesses that had 
to be solved fast. 

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Now, can Starship become a 
reliable, reusable platform for 

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lunar and Mars missions without 
more setbacks? 

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SpaceX reused Booster 14 for 
Flight 9 in May of 2025, and the

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booster launched cleanly, with 
all 33 Raptor 2 engines 

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performing normally. 
A number of those engines had 

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already flown, and SpaceX proved
they could operate safely again 

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after refurbishment. 
The mission also trialled A 

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modified hot staging system. 
Engineers altered the venting 

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system to steer the separation 
plume more effectively, reducing

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instability and pressure spikes 
during stage separation. 

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That change improved control 
during one of the most 

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vulnerable phases of flight, and
the payload section carried an 

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experimental Starlink deployment
system. 

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The ship's guidance system 
received a complete overhaul to 

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sharpen targeting precisions and
the new deployment mechanism and

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a carousel like ejection 
approach to it. 

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On paper, the upgrades 
positioned Flight 9 is the 

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strongest proof that Starship 
could transition from testing 

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into regular missions. 
But cracks emerged fast as Ship 

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35 accelerated toward orbital 
velocity. 

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Onboard data showed a methane 
leak inside the main tank Dome. 

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That slow leak reduced internal 
pressure, degraded control 

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authority and made it impossible
for the ship to maintain 

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orientation. 
Without stable altitude and 

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attitude, the spacecraft lost 
control and broke apart on re 

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entry. 
The booster faced its own 

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critical failure during the 
final descent. 

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High aerodynamic forces damaged 
part of the fuel transfer system

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and the booster exploded before 
completing its landing, 

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destroying post flight data that
would have informed 

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refurbishment efforts. 
Postmortem reviews revealed that

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structural stress points in the 
boosters fuel lines they weren't

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strong enough for high speed re 
entry forces. 

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SpaceX responded by reinforcing 
the plumbing with additional 

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material along high load zones. 
Engineers also redesigned the 

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tank Dome welds, added new leak 
detection sensors and updated 

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the ejection hardware to fix the
jam Starlink Bay. 

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The changes were ready in time 
for Flight 10. 

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Now, three months later, ship 37
launched and landed in the ocean

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just three meters off target. 
That pinpoint accuracy showed 

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clear improvement in the control
software and grid fin handling. 

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Engineers stripped heat shield 
tiles from one segment of the 

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ship on purpose to test how well
the backup thermal systems would

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hold up. 
The ship survived re entry 

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despite the induced damage. 
Now this success proved the 

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Starship's redundancy plan for 
heat shielding could work under 

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actual stress and the mission 
also included the 1st in flight 

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space Raptor relight. 
That test matters because 

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Starship must relight its 
engines mid flight to make 

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course corrections during deep 
space missions, and this relight

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worked. 
The success, along with improved

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engine out handling on the 
booster, showed that Starship 

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can still land safely even if 
one or more engines have failed.

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Flight 10 became the first 
mission to deploy test payloads 

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for Starship successfully. 
The updated deployment system 

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worked as designed, pushing out 
eight Starlink simulators during

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orbit. 
Onboard sensors sent back real 

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time readings on heat exposure, 
vibration and hull flex, giving 

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engineers the data they need to 
tweak thermal shielding and 

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structural fashion for future 
flights. 

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Flight 11 will mark the last use
of the current Block 2 vehicle 

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and aims to close out splash 
down tests for heat shield 

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segments and upgraded grid fins.
This version includes better 

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handling for ocean recovery and 
new software tuned for 

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predicting wave impact stress. 
The team wants high fidelity 

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recovery data before moving on 
to land based catch attempts. 

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Now Flight 12 is important. 
It begins the Block 3 era of 

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Starship. 
This version includes the Raptor

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3 engine, which provides 20% 
more thrust, simplified 

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construction, and fewer external
components which reduce weight 

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and improved reliability. 
SpaceX integrated the hot 

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staging ring into the ship's 
lower Dome to eliminate excess 

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mass, and the new grid fin 
arrangement allows for more 

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precise directional control 
during descent and the payload 

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limit jumps to 140 metric tons. 
These ships are built for fast 

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turn around and minimal post 
flight maintenance. 

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Now let's move on to flights 13 
through 15. 

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They're expected to showcase 
full reusability with recovery 

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of both the booster in the ship 
via the Meccazilla catching 

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system. 
That goal depends on the flight 

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history of Block 3 hardware, of 
course. 

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Engineers are testing new 
metallic heat shield tiles with 

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embedded coiling channels that 
use methane to absorb heat 

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during reentry, and these active
tiles are designed for fast 

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inspection and replacement, 
supporting A cadence near weekly

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launches once reliability is 
proven. 

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Star Base and Kennedy Space 
Center have already upgraded 

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infrastructure to support up to 
50 landings per year. 

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This high frequency will shorten
the learning cycle and create 

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more consistent engineering 
feedback for SpaceX. 

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It also reduces the time between
major system upgrades, which 

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will help SpaceX move faster 
towards stable operations. 

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These upcoming flights will also
test the hardware and software 

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needed for in orbit refueling. 
Specialized tanker versions of 

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Starship will attempt cryogenic 
fuel transfer in orbital 

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docking. 
The vehicles are receiving new 

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insulation systems and revised 
plumbing designed to prevent 

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boil off during long stays in 
orbit. 

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Software for automated 
rendezvous and docking is being 

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adapted from Crew Dragons flight
code, both modifications for 

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Starships larger size and higher
volume fuel. 

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NASA's Artemis lunar program 
depends on Starship's ability to

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refuel an urban. 
Without that capability, 

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Starship cannot deliver cargo to
the moon or return after 

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landing. 
The tests over the next few 

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flights will determine whether 
this part of the system will be 

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ready in time for a 2027 crude 
landing. 

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Raptor 3 engines are a huge 
performance boost since the 

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beginning of this program. 
These engines operate at 350 bar

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chamber pressure and exceed A 
thrust to weight ratio of 180. 

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They're designed to be 
refurbished in less than 30 

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days, which supports the kind of
rapid reuse the SpaceX needs to 

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compete with expandable rockets 
on cost and on volume. 

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Now, engineers are also moving 
away from relying solely on 

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ceramic heat shield tiles. 
The new designs use hexagonal 

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patterns with stronger 
attachment brackets, backup a 

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blade of layers beneath each 
tile, and active cooling in 

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critical zones. 
These changes reduce the risk of

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full system loss from a single 
tile detachment. 

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And SpaceX wants Starship to 
reach operational status by 

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2026. 
They want to set it to Mars. 

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That means refueling tests, 
successful catch landings, and 

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high frequency reuse all need to
happen in the next 5 flights. 

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So if Flight 11 goes well all 
the way through Flight 15, and 

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they can validate every single 
one of those systems as 100% 

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successful, SpaceX will have 
turned Starship from an 

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experimental platform into a 
reusable spacecraft with real 

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deep space potential. 
And they might just hit their 

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mark of going to Mars by the end
of 2026. 

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Hey, thank you so much for 
listening today. 

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I really do appreciate your 
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It helps out the show 
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