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2,600 degrees Fahrenheit (1,430 degrees Celsius) is the reentry temperature SpaceX's more than 18,000 ceramic heat-shield tiles withstood on Flight 13, the July 24 Starship test that ended with the world's largest rocket floating intact in a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean west of Australia.
The 408-foot (124-meter) vehicle lifted off from Starbase, Texas at 5:51 pm CDT, completed an hour-long flight, and survived splashdown without breaking apart, a first for the program.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the next launch will attempt a mechanical tower catch of the ship, barring problems found during mission data review.
Heat shield data, at last SpaceX engineers flew drones over the floating vehicle to inspect the tile array, getting their clearest look yet at how the heat shield weathers a full flight profile.
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