SpaceX recovers Starship from the Indian Ocean a month after launch and is shipping it back to Texas

SpaceX has begun shipping Starship Ship 40 back to Texas after recovering the vehicle from the Indian Ocean, giving engineers access to the first Starship upper stage to survive a spaceflight and remain intact after splashdown. Ship 40 launched from Starbase on July 24 during Starship’s 13th test flight. After a controlled return, it floated for 24 days before recovery teams towed it to calmer waters near Australia’s Christmas Island. Engineers inspected the 52-meter spacecraft before loading it onto the semi-submersible vessel Forte for the roughly 20,000-kilometer journey to Starbase. SpaceX said the recovery provides valuable data for continued Starship development. NASA is developing a Starship Human Landing System with SpaceX for Artemis missions, while NASA targets the first crewed lunar landing of its revised campaign for 2028. The recovered vehicle remains a test article, and its return does not establish operational readiness or guarantee NASA’s schedule. Further testing remains.