Overview
- SpaceX said its recovery team guided Ship 40 to waters just off Christmas Island after roughly 24 days floating in the Indian Ocean following Flight 13.
- Crews battled rough seas over a multi‑week tow using vessels including GO Australis, Normand Ranger and Skimmer Tide and set an exclusion zone as island residents gathered to watch.
- During the July 24 launch Ship 40 completed key test objectives by deploying 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites and performing an in‑space Raptor engine relight before surviving reentry and a soft splashdown.
- SpaceX will inspect the vehicle in calmer waters to recover telemetry, drone imagery and thermal protection system data because prolonged saltwater exposure and a tip‑over have likely made reuse impractical.
- Engineers and regulators will use the recovered hardware and data to refine Starship heat‑shield, engine‑restart and reuse plans and to inform the timing and approach for future recovery methods such as the launch‑tower catch.