Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
SpaceX is attempting to recover Ship 40 from the Indian Ocean following its remarkably controlled landing on Starship Flight 13. After drifting more than 400 kilometers, the vehicle is now surrounded by a fleet of recovery vessels—but can SpaceX actually tow it back to shore?
Meanwhile, preparations for Starship Flight 14 are moving forward. New planning documents point toward a possible August launch, Booster 21 and Ship 41 are being prepared for testing, and SpaceX may even be considering its first attempt to catch a Starship with the launch tower’s chopsticks.
In this Starship Update, we also examine newly released Flight 13 landing footage, imagery captured by the deployed Starlink V3 satellites, possible heatshield damage, repairs and upgrades at Pad 2, and an intriguing new structural test article known as Ship 43.1.
We then visit McGregor for the latest Raptor 3 engine testing—including a possible full-duration Booster 20 engine firing—and track progress on Ship 42, Booster 22, Starbase’s Gigabay, Pad 1, LC-39A, and the newly completed Starship launch tower at SLC-37A in Florida.
What should SpaceX do with Ship 40: inspect it in Australia, or attempt to transport it all the way back to Starbase? Let us know in the comments!
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🤵 Hosted by Ryan Caton.
🖊️ Written by Arran Reid & Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera.
🎥 Video from Julia Bergeron, Max Evans, Ceaser G, John Galloway, Colleen Liedtke, D Wise, Starbase Live, Space Coast Live, McGregor Live, Starship Tracking, SpaceX, MarineTraffic, Caverna, Calistemong.
✂️ 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 #StarshipUpdate #Ship40 #Flight14 #Starbase #SuperHeavy #Raptor
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SpaceX is attempting to recover Ship 40 from the Indian Ocean following its remarkably controlled landing on Starship Flight 13. After drifting more than 400 kilometers, the vehicle is now surrounded by a fleet of recovery vessels—but can SpaceX actually tow it back to shore?
Meanwhile, preparations for Starship Flight 14 are moving forward. New planning documents point toward a possible August launch, Booster 21 and Ship 41 are being prepared for testing, and SpaceX may even be considering its first attempt to catch a Starship with the launch tower’s chopsticks.
In this Starship Update, we also examine newly released Flight 13 landing footage, imagery captured by the deployed Starlink V3 satellites, possible heatshield damage, repairs and upgrades at Pad 2, and an intriguing new structural test article known as Ship 43.1.
We then visit McGregor for the latest Raptor 3 engine testing—including a possible full-duration Booster 20 engine firing—and track progress on Ship 42, Booster 22, Starbase’s Gigabay, Pad 1, LC-39A, and the newly completed Starship launch tower at SLC-37A in Florida.
What should SpaceX do with Ship 40: inspect it in Australia, or attempt to transport it all the way back to Starbase? Let us know in the comments!
Shop NSF Flight 13 metal prints and merchandise:
shop.nasaspaceflight.com
⚡ 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 Ryan Caton.
🖊️ Written by Arran Reid & Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera.
🎥 Video from Julia Bergeron, Max Evans, Ceaser G, John Galloway, Colleen Liedtke, D Wise, Starbase Live, Space Coast Live, McGregor Live, Starship Tracking, SpaceX, MarineTraffic, Caverna, Calistemong.
✂️ 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 #StarshipUpdate #Ship40 #Flight14 #Starbase #SuperHeavy #Raptor
LDAPAABJRG2UMCU3
![[SCRUB] SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Starlink 10-39](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PjtnTIjDUys/mqdefault.jpg "[SCRUB] SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Starlink 10-39
Launch Window: August 20th from 11:19AM to 3:19PM EDT (15:19-19:19 UTC)
Current T0: August 20th at 11:38:44AM EDT (15:38:44 UTC)
Mission: Falcon 9 launch of 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into orbit.
Launch location: Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Earth.
Target orbit: Low-Earth Orbit (LEO); 243x254km 53.16º
Booster: B1078-30; 58d 4h 45min 44s turnaround
Past customer missions: Crew-6, O3b mPOWER B, USSF-124, AST BlueBird 1-5, Nusantara Lima, Starfall Demo.
Past Starlink missions: 6-4, 6-8, 6-16, 6-31, 6-46, 6-53, 6-60, 10-2, 10-6, 10-13, 6-76, 12-6, 12-9, 12-16, 6-72, 6-84, 12-26, 10-26, 6-85, 6-97, 10-41, 10-62, 10-47.
Satellites launched: 584, will be 613 after this mission.
Booster recovery: A Shortfall Of Gravitas (ASOG)
Fairing recovery: Doug
Rocket trajectory: Northeast flying parallel to the US east coast
Payload mass: Approximately 17 tonnes.
Stats:
- SpaceXs 710th launch overall.
- SpaceXs 101st launch of the year.
- SpaceXs 10th launch of the month.
- Earths 199th orbital launch of the year.
- Falcons 328th launch since the last failure.
- Falcon 9s 679th orbital flight.
- SpaceXs 343rd launch from SLC-40.
- 166th landing on ASOG out of 167 attempts.
- 541st landing of a Falcon booster on a droneship out of 552 attempts.
- 652nd overall landing of a Falcon booster out of 664 attempts.
- 311th successful landing by a Falcon booster since the last failed one.
- SpaceXs 416th launch dedicated to Starlink and the 59th Group 10 mission.
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#SpaceX #Starlink #Falcon9 #Starlink1223 #LEO #SatelliteInternet #SpaceXLaunch #GlobalInternet #HighSpeedInternet #RocketLaunch #StarlinkMission #NextGenSatellites #SpaceTechnology
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NASASpaceflight (NSF) delivers live rocket launch coverage, breaking spaceflight news, and in-depth reporting from around the world.
NASASpaceflight is not affiliated with or does not represent the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA initials used with NASA’s permission.
Now in its 20th year, NSF covers all major players in space: SpaceX, NASA, Blue Origin, ULA, Rocket Lab, Relativity, Arianespace, Firefly, Stoke, Northrop Grumman, and more. From Starship test campaigns at Starbase to crew missions, infrastructure rollouts, and international launches, NSF delivers multi-angle livestreams, on-site reporting, and expert analysis from locations like Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg, Wallops, and Starbase.")
