{
  "id": 3777488,
  "title": "Starship is coming home! SpaceX loads floating spacecraft onto huge ship in the Indian Ocean (photos)",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/starship-is-coming-home-spacex-loads-floating-spacecraft-onto-huge",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-27T16:45:12.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Space.com",
    "slug": "space-com",
    "url": "https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/starship-is-coming-home-spacex-loads-floating-spacecraft-onto-huge-ship-in-the-indian-ocean-photos"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nearly a month after its historic spaceflight, Starship is finally returning home. SpaceX transported its 171-foot-tall upper stage, Starship, onto a massive semi-submersible ship in the Indian Ocean on August 27. The vehicle, which had been submerged since July 24 after successfully completing the 13th test flight, is now set to make its way back to SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas. This journey is expected to take several months.\n\nStarship 171-foot upper stage, known as Starship or Ship, was deployed into space on the hour-long suborbital flight, carrying out its mission to deploy 20 Starlink Version 3 satellites into orbit. The upper stage also made history by successfully relighting one of its six Raptor engines during reentry. After a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Western Australia, Starship survived the ordeal intact, marking a significant improvement over previous flights where the upper stage either broke apart or exploded upon reentry.\n\nSpaceX decided to take advantage of this unprecedented development, towing the recovered Starship to shore. Initially, the recovery seemed challenging due to rough seas and difficult conditions. However, the company persevered and managed to tow the vehicle to Christmas Island, an Australian territory located about 1,200 miles northwest of Broome. Once there, SpaceX engineers inspected the vehicle for several days, collecting heat shield samples and gaining valuable insights into how the vehicle handled reentry. The company plans to make improvements based on these findings for future Starship vehicles.",
  "summary": "SpaceX has loaded Flight 13's Starship upper stage onto a ship in the Indian Ocean, more than a month after the vehicle splashed down. It is now headed home to Texas.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Space.com",
        "title": "SpaceX will set rocket-reuse record on 100th Falcon 9 launch of the year early Aug. 25: Watch it live",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/spacex-will-set-rocket-reuse-record-on-100th-falcon-9-launch-of-the",
        "published": "2026-08-24T17:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Scientific American",
        "title": "Elon Musk's SpaceX to expand beyond Texas Starbase with new Louisiana spaceport dedicated to Starship",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/elon-musks-spacex-to-expand-beyond-texas-starbase-with-new-louisiana",
        "published": "2026-08-25T20:10:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}