SpaceX has conducted a rare recovery of its most recently launched Starship from the Indian Ocean and is now shipping the vehicle back to Texas, according to the source report. The trip is expected to take several months, per the same report.
Recovered near Christmas Island; photos shared
The source states SpaceX shared pictures of the recovery effort near Christmas Island late this week. The company also posted a message on X: “Congratulations to the entire SpaceX Recovery team for battling through challenging conditions to give our engineers access to a wealth of data to continue rapidly developing Starship.”
A rare intact Starship after the 13th test, source reports
Starship — described by the source as the biggest and most powerful rocket in the world — lifted off July 24 from Starbase, Texas. The source reports it was the 13th full-up Starship test flight and, unlike the others, it survived an hourlong space-skimming flight and remained floating and intact.
Why it matters for Moon and Mars
The source notes Starship is central to Elon Musk’s plan to transport people and cargo to Mars. It also reports that NASA is counting on both Starship and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Moon lander to return astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2028.
Political spotlight and timelines (reported by source)
According to the source, President Donald Trump endorsed both the Moon and Mars destinations during a visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Friday and presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to each of the four Artemis II astronauts who, per the source, flew around the Moon in April.
