SpaceX Ships Intact Starship Home After Near-Failed Ocean Salvage

• In early August, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described the recovery effort as “not looking good right now” amid rough seas.
• Earlier this month, SpaceX revealed that in the second quarter it spent $1.08 billion on space segment research and development, primarily covering Starship costs.
• The next flight test for Starship is slated for early September.

SpaceX (SPCX) said on Thursday that Ship 40, the upper stage from its 13th Starship test flight, is on the way back to Starbase in South Texas from the coast off Australia.

The Elon Musk-led company said that the ship has been loaded onto a semi-submersible vessel off Christmas Island after engineers spent several days inspecting the vehicle in calmer waters near the Australian territory, collecting heat-shield samples and studying how it handled the return from space. The observations made on the ship will guide design changes on future iterations of the vehicle. The ship will take several months to reach Texas, the company noted.

SPCX shares closed up about 1%. 

A Salvage That Almost Failed

Ship 40 splashed down in the Indian Ocean on July 24 after launching from Texas — the first time a Starship upper stage stayed intact after landing in the water. Earlier test vehicles typically broke apart or exploded on landing. SpaceX subsequently sent recovery ships to retrieve the ship.

In early August, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described the recovery effort as “not looking good right now” amid rough seas. After about 24 days, teams guided the ship near Christmas Island on August 18.

Long-Term Plans For Ship Recovery

Fishing a flown Starship from the ocean is not part of the long-term plan for Starship. The company wants future vehicles to return to Texas and be caught at the launch tower so they can fly again quickly.

SpaceX has disclosed more than $15 billion spent developing Starship, including about $3 billion in 2025 alone — far more than it spent creating Falcon 9. Earlier this month, SpaceX revealed that in the second quarter it spent $1.08 billion on space segment research and development, primarily covering Starship costs.

Upcoming Starship Flight

The next Starship flight test is aimed at September. SpaceX still wants to catch the ship with the launch tower, but Musk said that attempt is now likely a few months away, not on the immediate next flight.

Elon Musk envisions Starship as a fully and rapidly reusable, super-heavy-lift vehicle that will transform spaceflight by ultimately delivering up to 10 million tons to orbit each year, enabling humanity to become multiplanetary through a self-sustaining city on Mars within 20 to 30 years while also supporting lunar bases, massive Starlink expansion, and orbital AI data centers.

How Did SPCX Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SPCX stock remained ‘bearish’ over the past 24 hours, while message volume was ‘low.’

A Stocktwits user questioned whether the stock is overvalued and raised concerns about the company’s AI investments, asking, “What happens when AI computer saturation is reached?” They also questioned how the company differs from a “scaler like $CRWV.”

Another user cheered the stock crossing the $140 threshold.

SPCX stock is currently trading at around $141, above its IPO price of $135 but below its all-time high of $225. 

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