Starship 40, the SpaceX upper stage that splashed down in the Indian Ocean this past July, will take several months to return to Texas. While the rocket completed its mission in roughly 65 minutes, its recovery journey began only after it drifted at sea for 24 days.
Launched from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas on July 24, Starship 40 deployed 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites during its suborbital flight. The satellites briefly connected with SpaceX’s network before reentering and burning up about 20 minutes later, as intended. The primary objective was testing the payload deployment system to advance SpaceX’s goal of full reusability.
Unlike previous Starship upper stages that were destroyed upon impact, Starship 40 remained largely intact after splashdown. Although it is unlikely to fly again, the salvaged craft provides engineers with a rare opportunity for physical inspection rather than relying solely on telemetry or debris analysis.
The recovery operation involved moving the 171-foot spacecraft from its open-ocean splashdown site toward Christmas Island, an Australian territory south of Indonesia. The tugboat Normand Ranger guided the stage until the 710-foot transport vessel Forte arrived. Crews secured the spacecraft alongside the ship, which lowered its cargo deck by filling ballast tanks. Once aligned with a custom cradle, Forte pumped out the water and rose, lifting the upper stage onto its deck.
Shipping expert Sal Mercogliano noted that while lifting a rocket is unusual, vessels like Forte routinely handle oversized cargo. “Ships like Forte do this every day,” he said. “This is a very common occurrence in the shipping industry.”
The return leg of the trip is significantly slower. SpaceX has described the transit as a “several month journey,” and tracking data suggests an arrival at the Port of Brownsville around October 8. Mercogliano indicated the ship’s westward trajectory likely points toward the Cape of Good Hope.
Engineers have already retrieved heat-shield samples to analyze how the stage withstood reentry. According to SpaceX, these findings offer vital insights into future Starship designs. The long-term aim is to enable Starship to return directly to Starbase for a tower catch, eliminating the need for lengthy ocean recoveries.
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