YouTube star MrBeast has officially contributed hardware to a real SpaceX rocket after helping install a heat-shield tile on a Starship vehicle that is expected to fly to space.
The moment comes from his latest YouTube video, titled $1 vs $1,000,000,000 Futuristic Tech!, where MrBeast was invited inside a SpaceX production facility to see how the company is building its next-generation spacecraft at scale.
During the visit, MrBeast toured the Starship factory, spoke with SpaceX engineers, and learned how the company plans to manufacture rockets on an assembly line-style system designed to support frequent launches to the Moon and Mars.
The tour included a close look at the heat-shield tiles that protect Starship during atmospheric reentry, with engineers explaining that each vehicle uses around 18,000 of the lightweight ceramic tiles.
MrBeast installs heat-shield tile to SpaceX rocket
After watching a live demonstration where Karl applied a blowtorch to a heat-shield tile resting on MrBeast’s bare hand, SpaceX allowed MrBeast to do something normally reserved for trained technicians: install a real tile onto a Starship fin.
According to SpaceX staff in the video, the tile MrBeast installed is considered flight hardware, meaning it is intended to remain on the vehicle and could travel to space if the rocket flies. He was warned that there would be no second attempts, and that the tile would need to be destroyed if installed incorrectly.
After successfully locking the tile into place, MrBeast signed it with his name, joking that if the rocket were to fail, everything shown on camera was artificial intelligence.
The visit also highlighted the sheer scale of SpaceX’s ambitions, with company representatives stating that Starship is designed to be fully reusable and capable of carrying up to 100 people per launch. SpaceX aims to eventually launch thousands of these vehicles as part of its long-term goal of making humanity a multi-planetary species.
