SpaceX has long marketed Starship as a fully and rapidly reusable rocket that’s designed to deliver thousands of pounds of cargo to Mars and make life multiplanetary. But reusability at scale means a space vehicle that can tolerate mishaps and faults, so that a single failure doesn’t spell a mission-ending catastrophe.

The 10th test flight on Tuesday evening demonstrated SpaceX’s focus on fault tolerance. In a post-flight update, SpaceX said the test stressed “the limits of vehicle capabilities.” Understanding these edges will be critical for the company’s plans to eventually use Starship to launch Starlink satellites, commercial payloads, and eventually astronauts.

When the massive Starship rocket lifted off on its 10th test flight Tuesday evening, SpaceX did more than achieve new mil

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