SpaceX removed about 72 tiles in 18 key locations for Starship Flight 11 and there was no catastrophic failure. This could allow SpaceX to optimize the heat shield and remove 10-20% of tiles over lower heating areas.
SpaceX will choose to remain extra cautious but they can eventually reduce heat shield tiles.
SpaceX is scaling up to making 1000 heat shield tiles per day which will be enough to reach a mass production target of 10 Starships per month.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
