Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Ship 40 survived its Indian Ocean landing—but getting the battered Starship back to shore may be an even greater challenge.
After rough seas complicated SpaceX’s recovery operation, marine tracking indicates that Ship 40 remains under tow and is now heading toward Christmas Island. But the island’s port was never designed to handle a 50-meter-tall spacecraft. Is this merely a stopping point, or does SpaceX have another plan for the first Starship upper stage recovered largely intact after an offshore landing?
Meanwhile, SpaceX is accelerating Starship preparations across Texas and Florida. Booster 22 is now fully stacked, components for Booster 23 are already moving through Starfactory, Ship 42 continues heat-shield work, and construction progresses across Gigabay and Starbase’s rebuilt Pad 1.
At Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX has continued load testing the chopsticks and testing the massive water-deluge system at Launch Complex 39A. We also examine Project Ignition, a proposed 55-acre Starship testing facility near Roberts Road that could become Florida’s equivalent of Massey’s.
Elsewhere, B18.3 prepares for more grid-fin testing at Massey’s, while a Raptor 3 engine carrying serial number 225 suggests that engine production is continuing to accelerate at McGregor.
Will Ship 40 make it to shore intact? What happens if it reaches Christmas Island? And when will Booster 21 and Ship 41 begin testing for Flight 14? Let us know what you think in the comments.
⚡ Become a member of NASASpaceflight's channel for exclusive discord access, fast turnaround clips, and other exclusive benefits. Your support helps us continue our 24/7 coverage. Click JOIN above to get started.⚡
🤵 Hosted by Max Evans.
🖊️ Written by Bastiaan Vellekoop and Eleanor Day.
🎥 Video from Ceaser G, Colleen Liedtke, D Wise, Space Coast Live, Starbase Live, McGregor Live, Starship Tracking, SpaceX, MarineTraffic, Google Earth, Justin Styer, Google Street View.
✂️ Edited by Ryan Caton.
💼 Produced by Kevin Michael Reed (@kmreed).
Rocket Ranch! rocketranchbocachica.com
🔍 If you are interested in using footage from this video, please review our content use policy: nasaspaceflight.com/content-use-policy
L2 Boca Chica (more clips and photos) from BC's very early days to today.
🔗 forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=47107.0
(Join L2 and support NSF here: nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)
#SpaceX #Starship #Ship40 #Flight14 #Starbase #NASASpaceflight
LDAPAABJRG2UMCU3
Ship 40 survived its Indian Ocean landing—but getting the battered Starship back to shore may be an even greater challenge.
After rough seas complicated SpaceX’s recovery operation, marine tracking indicates that Ship 40 remains under tow and is now heading toward Christmas Island. But the island’s port was never designed to handle a 50-meter-tall spacecraft. Is this merely a stopping point, or does SpaceX have another plan for the first Starship upper stage recovered largely intact after an offshore landing?
Meanwhile, SpaceX is accelerating Starship preparations across Texas and Florida. Booster 22 is now fully stacked, components for Booster 23 are already moving through Starfactory, Ship 42 continues heat-shield work, and construction progresses across Gigabay and Starbase’s rebuilt Pad 1.
At Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX has continued load testing the chopsticks and testing the massive water-deluge system at Launch Complex 39A. We also examine Project Ignition, a proposed 55-acre Starship testing facility near Roberts Road that could become Florida’s equivalent of Massey’s.
Elsewhere, B18.3 prepares for more grid-fin testing at Massey’s, while a Raptor 3 engine carrying serial number 225 suggests that engine production is continuing to accelerate at McGregor.
Will Ship 40 make it to shore intact? What happens if it reaches Christmas Island? And when will Booster 21 and Ship 41 begin testing for Flight 14? Let us know what you think in the comments.
⚡ Become a member of NASASpaceflight's channel for exclusive discord access, fast turnaround clips, and other exclusive benefits. Your support helps us continue our 24/7 coverage. Click JOIN above to get started.⚡
🤵 Hosted by Max Evans.
🖊️ Written by Bastiaan Vellekoop and Eleanor Day.
🎥 Video from Ceaser G, Colleen Liedtke, D Wise, Space Coast Live, Starbase Live, McGregor Live, Starship Tracking, SpaceX, MarineTraffic, Google Earth, Justin Styer, Google Street View.
✂️ Edited by Ryan Caton.
💼 Produced by Kevin Michael Reed (@kmreed).
Rocket Ranch! rocketranchbocachica.com
🔍 If you are interested in using footage from this video, please review our content use policy: nasaspaceflight.com/content-use-policy
L2 Boca Chica (more clips and photos) from BC's very early days to today.
🔗 forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=47107.0
(Join L2 and support NSF here: nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)
#SpaceX #Starship #Ship40 #Flight14 #Starbase #NASASpaceflight
LDAPAABJRG2UMCU3
