Against all odds, SpaceX finally tugs Starship into port after 24 days at sea

"A team of SpaceX engineers is on their way to conduct additional analysis on the vehicle."

arstechnica.com ·2026-08-18

Against all odds, SpaceX finally tugs Starship into port after 24 days at sea

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft has successfully completed a 24-day journey across the Indian Ocean, making a smooth splashdown on July 24 after its test flight. The upper stage, known as Ship 40, has been the subject of a recovery effort led by SpaceX's team. Despite challenging and rough seas, the team has managed to navigate the vehicle to calmer waters near Christmas Island.

A SpaceX team is now en route to inspect the spacecraft and prepare it for return to Starbase. This marks the first time an upper stage of Starship has returned intact, providing valuable data for the company's iterative design process.

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