SpaceX has loaded Starship's upper stage onto a semi-submersible ship in the Indian Ocean, marking the first time the company has recovered an intact Starship after an ocean splashdown.
What Happened
The Ship, standing 171 feet tall (52 meters), was hoisted onto the recovery vessel off the coast of Christmas Island on Aug. 27 — more than a month after its Flight 13 test mission. The upper stage had splashed down intact in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia on July 24, an unprecedented outcome; every previous Starship flight had seen the upper stage either break apart during reentry or explode shortly after splashdown when it toppled sideways into the waves.
SpaceX initially faced challenges retrieving the vehicle. CEO Elon Musk acknowledged on Aug. 7 that 'ship recovery is not looking good right now,' citing challenging conditions and rough seas. The company persevered, however, towing Ship to Christmas Island — an Australian territory about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) northwest of Broome — where engineers spent several days inspecting the vehicle while it floated in the waves.
"They collected heatshield samples and gained vital insight into how the vehicle handled reentry with improvements now planned on future vehicles," SpaceX said in an X post. The semi-submersible hauler will now transport Ship back to Starbase in South Texas, a journey expected to take several months.
Why It Matters
The successful recovery of Flight 13's Ship provides SpaceX with rare firsthand data about how the vehicle's heat shield performed during reentry — information critical to developing Starship into a fully and rapidly reusable system. On Flight 13, the upper stage successfully deployed 20 next-generation Starlink 'Version 3' satellites and even managed to relight one of its six Raptor engines in space.
The ability to inspect hardware after flight marks a significant milestone for the program. Previously, SpaceX had little opportunity to examine intact Starship hardware up close following ocean recoveries. This data could accelerate improvements planned for future vehicles.
The Bottom Line
SpaceX has begun the months-long journey of returning Flight 13's Ship from Christmas Island back to Starbase in South Texas. The company says it collected heatshield samples and valuable reentry performance data during the recovery effort, which overcame initial doubts about whether the spacecraft could be retrieved at all.
"Congratulations to the entire SpaceX Recovery team for battling through challenging conditions to give our engineers access to a wealth of data to continue rapidly developing Starship," the company posted.