There are things about TPS tile aerodynamics other than raw resistance to heat to be learned. SpaceX has taken advantage of Falcon 9 missions before to enhance its knowledge and may well do so again.

With all of the skilled sky-watchers out there – both professional and amateur – there would seem little point in attempted deception about either the nature or number of the payloads launched. The fact that the last two Starlink launches have been to this high inclination probably just indicates that SpaceX is now getting around to filling out the fraction of its constellation that can provide service in polar latitudes.

Providing more coverage for direct-to-cell service at low bandwidth might be the motivator here. It might also be that SpaceX anticipates more US War Department business at such latitudes given recent developments anent Greenland.

One, a fairing half had a number of hexagonal tiles, looking remarkably like Starship tiles, mounted on it. Will be interesting to see if we hear anything about this (or future) test. Not sure what data they get from a fairing reentry, velocities are much lower compared to Starship.

Two, the launch azimuth today was ~97.3°, which corresponds with a Sun-synchronous orbit at 470 km. Not their usual path. SECO velocity was correspondingly higher.

And a final note: We never saw the actual payload. Hmm? Was it REALLY 25 Starlinks? Curious observers will want to look to the skies at local sunset/sunrise. Should be easy to spot!

SpaceX, always throwing in little wrinkles when you least expect it.