Holy shit, that was incredible.
One of the fins burned half away and still managed to control for a soft splashdown. https://imgur.com/a/zNXUjbt
One of the fins burned half away and still managed to control for a soft splashdown. https://imgur.com/a/zNXUjbt
Edit: supposedly the Space Shuttle could also communicate with satellites during re-entry. There's a hole in the plasma behind the spacecraft and, Starship being large, must leave a bigger opening for the signals to pass through.
> Until the creation of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), the Space Shuttle endured a 30-minute blackout. The TDRSS allowed the Shuttle to communicate by relay with a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite during re-entry, through a "hole" in the ionized air envelope at the tail end of the craft, created by the Shuttle's shape.
Starlink's just much higher bandwidth.