Lead
The Starship upper stage that flew on SpaceX’s Flight 13 returned to the company’s launch site on Wednesday, completing a journey that began with a July splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
The recovered spacecraft, called Ship 40, gives engineers physical hardware to inspect as SpaceX works on the heat-shield performance needed to make Starship reusable.
What Happened
Cameras pointed at Starbase in Texas showed the vessel Forte carrying the 171-foot-long Ship 40 through waterways leading to SpaceX’s spaceport via the Port of Brownsville. The port also released aerial footage of Forte carrying the spacecraft into the channel.
Ship 40 splashed down in the Indian Ocean after Flight 13 in July. Tugboats later moved the vehicle for an in-water inspection near Christmas Island in August.
Unlike the Starship upper stages flown on Flights 12 and 14, which exploded moments after splashdown, the Flight 13 vehicle tipped over and remained afloat. That outcome prompted SpaceX to attempt to recover the spacecraft for a closer inspection of its heat shield and other components.
Why It Matters
Recovering Ship 40 allows engineers to examine the vehicle directly, complementing cameras installed on Flight 14’s Starlink V3 satellites to visually assess heat-shield performance. The physical recovery provided engineers with data about the heat-shield tiles, an important part of making Starship reusable.
A few heat-shield tiles removed from Ship 40 were reused on Flight 14, linking the recovered Flight 13 hardware to the following flight’s testing.
The return to the launch site therefore extends Flight 13’s role beyond the flight itself: its hardware can support closer examination after its July splashdown and August in-water inspection.
Background
All three Starship V3 flights so far successfully performed landing burns, but their post-splashdown outcomes differed. The upper stages from Flights 12 and 14 exploded shortly after reaching the water, while Ship 40 stayed afloat after tipping over.