SpaceX successfully recovered its Starship spacecraft after it splashed down intact in the Indian Ocean following a test flight that orbited halfway around the world. The intact recovery is surprising and valuable for hardware inspection, unlike previous flights where Starship disintegrated after splashdown. The recovery ship towed it to Christmas Island, where engineers will analyze the vehicle before attempting to return it to Starbase in Texas.
Background
Starship is SpaceX's next-generation launch vehicle designed for deep space missions, including Mars colonization. The vehicle has undergone 13 test flights so far, with many ending in explosive failures, making any successful recovery a significant milestone.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Aug 19, 2026 at 03:01 AM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10