Ship 40 arrives at Christmas Island, Plans Return to Starbase
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SpaceX has successfully guided Starship Ship 40 to a location just off the coast of Christmas Island after approximately 24 days at sea in the Indian Ocean.
A team of SpaceX engineers is traveling to the site to conduct additional analysis on the vehicle in calmer waters before the company attempts to return it to Starbase in Texas.
Ship 40 launched on July 24, 2026, as part of Starship Flight 13 from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, paired with Booster 20. The mission marked several major achievements for the program.
Ship 40 deployed 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites (the first time functional next-generation satellites flew on a Starship test), completed an in-space Raptor engine relight, survived reentry, and executed a controlled flip and landing burn that produced the softest splashdown in the Starship program to date.
Unlike previous flights in which the vehicle typically broke apart after tipping over in the water, Ship 40 remained intact and continued floating on the surface.
Live SpaceX drone footage scanned the vehicle as it floated, capturing valuable Thermal Protection System (TPS) imagery and data in the critical early post-splashdown window, data that would normally have been lost within minutes if the ship had been swallowed by the ocean. Ship 40, however, remained afloat.
SpaceX initiated recovery operations rather than allowing the ship to sink. Elon Musk stated that recovering the intact vehicle would provide valuable data that would otherwise be lost, and noted that the continued high-accuracy splashdowns now strengthen the case for accelerating the first ship catch attempt at Starbase, potentially as soon as Flight 14.
Ship 40 after landing, via SpaceX
Ship 40 drifted more than 400 kilometers over subsequent days while SpaceX’s recovery vessel GO Australis tracked it closely.
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Additional vessels, Normand Ranger and Skimmer Tide, joined the effort in the Indian Ocean. Normand Ranger arrived first, followed by Skimmer Tide roughly half a day later. The combined team worked to stabilize and guide the spacecraft amid challenging and increasingly rough sea conditions.
Progress was deliberately slow, often around one to two knots, due to the unique towing arrangement required for the massive, floating vehicle.
After weeks of tracking and towing operations, the recovery team brought Ship 40 into the relatively sheltered waters near Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the eastern Indian Ocean.
SpaceX released new video and photographs documenting the vehicle floating near the island’s coastline, with recovery vessels nearby under varying light conditions. An exclusion zone has been established around the ship and support vessels.
After approx. 24 days at sea, the SpaceX Recovery team successfully guided Starship to a location just off the coast of Christmas Island. A team of SpaceX engineers is on their way to conduct additional analysis on the vehicle in calmer waters before attempting to return it to… pic.twitter.com/h6YYWb0LT5
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 18, 2026
Engineers will now perform closer inspections in the calmer environment before the next phase of the recovery effort, which aims to transport the vehicle back to Starbase for more comprehensive examination.
The successful recovery of an intact flight vehicle after a soft ocean landing provides SpaceX with an unprecedented opportunity to study the effects of the full mission profile on the structure, thermal protection system, and engines under real flight conditions.
Ship 40 floating, via SpaceX
In-space imagery from the Starlink V3 satellites and post-splashdown drone footage already showed the heat shield largely intact, though the aft section exhibited some tile loss and rim damage that originated earlier in flight, areas the company continues to refine.
Ship 40’s performance on Flight 13 demonstrated controlled reentry and landing capabilities while highlighting specific improvements still needed for rapid reuse.
With engineers now able to examine the vehicle up close in sheltered waters, the data gathered from this recovery will feed directly into future vehicles and the push toward catching Starship at Starbase.
(Lead image via SpaceX).
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