SpaceX's Starship Upper Stage Heads Home After Historic Ocean Recovery
SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 upper stage, known as Ship 40, has been successfully loaded onto a recovery vessel in the Indian Ocean and is now en route to Texas. This marks the first time a Starship upper stage has been recovered intact from the ocean, following its splashdown on July 24, 2026.
The spacecraft remained afloat for approximately 24 days before being towed to calmer waters near Christmas Island. There, SpaceX's recovery team loaded the 52-meter-long upper stage onto the Forte, a heavy-lift semi-submersible cargo carrier, directly from the water.
Ship 40's intact recovery provides SpaceX with valuable insights into the spacecraft's performance, particularly regarding its heat shield resilience and structural integrity. These findings are expected to inform future upgrades and enhance the reusability of the Starship program.