Starship towed to Christmas Island after floating 24 days in Indian Ocean

SpaceX has towed Starship to waters off Christmas Island after the spacecraft floated in the Indian Ocean for nearly 24 days. Engineers will inspect how the vehicle handled seawater exposure as the company weighs a return tow to Texas.The company confirmed that its recovery team guided the massive spacecraft to a location just off the coast of Christmas Island. (Photo: SpaceX)SpaceX has successfully recovered its Starship spacecraft after it spent nearly 24 days floating in the Indian Ocean following a splashdown during a recent test mission.The company confirmed that its recovery team guided the massive spacecraft to a location just off the coast of Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the eastern Indian Ocean, where engineers will conduct a detailed inspection before attempting to transport the vehicle back to Texas.The recovery operation marks another milestone in SpaceX's efforts to develop a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying astronauts and cargo to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.x According to SpaceX, the Starship vehicle remained afloat in the ocean for more than three weeks after its mission ended with a controlled splashdown. During that time, recovery crews monitored the spacecraft's condition while planning a safe towing operation across challenging sea conditions.The spacecraft was eventually brought to calmer waters near Christmas Island, where a team of SpaceX engineers is now headed to perform additional analysis of the vehicle. The inspections are expected to provide valuable data on how Starship's structure, thermal protection system, and other critical components withstood prolonged exposure to seawater and the harsh marine environment.Engineers will assess whether the spacecraft can safely endure a longer tow back to Starbase, SpaceX's launch and development facility in South Texas.The recovery is particularly significant because Starship is designed to be rapidly reusable, much like the company's Falcon 9 rockets. Data gathered from the vehicle's condition after nearly a month at sea could help improve future recovery procedures and spacecraft designs.Christmas Island has emerged as a strategic location for the operation due to its relative proximity to the recovery zone and access to calmer waters for inspection activities.Starship remains central to SpaceX's long-term ambitions. NASA has also selected a modified version of the spacecraft as the lunar lander for future Artemis missions that aim to return astronauts to the Moon.As engineers begin their examination of the recovered vehicle, the findings are expected to shape future Starship test flights and bring SpaceX another step closer to achieving fully reusable deep-space transportation.- EndsPublished By: Sibu Kumar TripathiPublished On: Aug 19, 2026 12:37 IST