First recovered Starship returns home for detailed study

For the first time, SpaceX has brought home a Starship spacecraft after a flight to space. Ship 40 is now inside a hangar at Starbase in South Texas, giving engineers an opportunity to examine hardware that survived launch, atmospheric reentry and an ocean splashdown.

The 52-metre spacecraft launched on July 24 during Starship’s 13th test flight. It reached space without completing an orbit, then made a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Unlike earlier Starship spacecraft that were destroyed after splashdown, Ship 40 remained largely intact and afloat.

Getting it home required a lengthy recovery effort. Crews towed it through rough seas for 24 days before reaching waters off Australia’s Christmas Island. Engineers inspected the vehicle and collected heat-shield samples there, then loaded it onto the transport ship Forte. It reached the Port of Brownsville on October 7 and travelled overland to Starbase. SpaceX announced its return on October 13.

Engineers can now study the spacecraft’s heat shield, engines and onboard electronics in detail. The findings could help improve future designs and recovery attempts as SpaceX works toward a rapidly reusable vehicle.

Ship 40 returned by ship and road, not under its own power. SpaceX has yet to achieve that kind of return with a Starship spacecraft, but it now has a flown vehicle to examine as it develops the systems needed.