The Starship, from Flight 13 on July 24, achieved a soft splashdown—the program’s first intact ocean landing.

  • SpaceX attempts to retrieve the Starship’s upper stage primarily to advance full reusability and accelerate development.
  • On SpaceX’s August 4 second-quarter earnings call, Musk said Flight 14, targeted for late August, will be the first attempt at reaching operational orbit, carrying production Starlink satellites.
  • CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday that the space economy will be much bigger than $1.8 trillion by 2035, reiterating optimism in the sector.


SpaceX said Tuesday that its recovery team has successfully guided the Starship’s upper stage from the last flight test to a location just off the coast of Christmas Island near Australia, roughly 24 days after it soft-landed in the Indian Ocean, as it continues efforts to return it to Starbase in Texas.

A team of SpaceX engineers is en route to conduct further analysis in calmer waters before attempting to return the vehicle to Starbase in Texas, the company said in a post on X. The company shared video and photos of the intact spacecraft floating near the island, with a support vessel nearby

The Starship, from Flight 13 on July 24, achieved a soft splashdown—the program’s first intact ocean landing. It had deployed 20 Starlink V3 test satellites and demonstrated an in-space engine relight before re-entering and landing gently.

In early August, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described the recovery effort as “not looking good right now” amid rough seas.

SpaceX attempts to retrieve the Starship upper stage primarily to advance full reusability and accelerate development. Recovering it allows engineers to physically inspect the hardware and gather more data that can help validate upgrades.

Starship’s Flight 13

Starship’s 13th flight test lifted off on July 24 at 5:51 p.m. CT from Starbase, Texas—the second flight of the upgraded third version of the vehicle. The mission achieved several firsts; the Super Heavy booster of the two-stage launch vehicle completed its boostback burn but suffered a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico after only a subset of engines ignited for landing.

The upper stage reached its planned suborbital trajectory, deployed 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites, marking the first such deployment, and executed a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The ship remained intact and afloat—the softest and first intact ocean landing in the program—while continuing to transmit imagery of its heat shield.

Upcoming Starship Flight

On SpaceX’s August 4 second-quarter earnings call, Musk said Flight 14, targeted for late August, will be the first attempt at reaching operational orbit, carrying production Starlink satellites. The company plans to try catching both the booster and ship with the launch tower this year and “possibly” the ship as soon as the 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.

SpaceX revealed earlier this month that it spent $1.08 billion in space segment research and development alone in Q2, predominantly covering Starship costs.

CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday that the space economy will be much bigger than $1.8 trillion by 2035, reiterating optimism in the sector.

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2089745945030193224?s=20

How Did SPCX Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SPCX stayed within ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained at ‘normal’ levels.

Stocktwits users are now awaiting the stock again crossing the $150 threshold, its opening price on the Nasdaq.

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SPCX stock currently trades at around $144, higher than its IPO price of $135 but below its all-time high price of $225 hit days after its debut on the Nasdaq in June. 

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