Overview
- Ship 40 splashed down on July 24 after Flight 13 and spent about three weeks drifting at sea before crews towed it into the calmer waters of Christmas Island for recovery.
- SpaceX lifted the 52‑metre upper stage onto the 48,000‑ton semi‑submersible Forte on Thursday, Aug. 27, and the vessel departed Christmas Island for the company’s Starbase facility in Texas.
- Company engineers inspected the floating Ship for several days and collected heat‑shield samples and imagery to study how the thermal protection and engine relight performed during reentry.
- The Forte’s voyage back to Texas is expected to take several weeks to months and SpaceX says the returned hardware and data will feed design and reentry changes as teams prepare Flight 14.
- The complex at‑sea operation involved local stevedores and an exclusion zone, drew strong community interest on Christmas Island, and underscores the high logistic cost of ocean recoveries.