SpaceX's Starship 40, launched from Starbase in South Texas on 24 July, unexpectedly survived splashdown in the Indian Ocean after a roughly 65-minute suborbital test flight, giving engineers a rare intact upper stage to examine rather than relying on telemetry and debris. Recovery has proved a slow, multi-stage process: after 24 days at sea, crews guided the spacecraft towards Christmas Island before transferring it to a submersible transport ship for the long haul back to Texas, a journey SpaceX says will take several months.

The 171-foot spacecraft deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites during the flight, which briefly connected to SpaceX's network before deliberately burning up, as the mission was designed to test payload deployment systems rather than perform an operational launch. The tug Normand Ranger held Starship 40 near Christmas Island until the 710-foot transport ship Forte arrived, flooding its ballast tanks to lower its deck, positioning the spacecraft in a custom cradle, then rising to lift it clear of the water. Ship-tracking data suggests Forte is broadcasting an arrival date of 8 October at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, likely via the Cape of Good Hope, while engineers have already begun analysing heat-shield samples to improve future Starship designs.