SpaceX Recovers Starship from Indian Ocean a Month After Launch and Ships It Back to Texas
- SpaceX successfully recovered its Starship rocket from the Indian Ocean near Christmas Island in late August, approximately one month after its July 24 launch.
- The recovered Starship is being transported back to Starbase in Texas via a semisubmersible ship, a journey expected to take several months.
- This was the 13th test flight of a full-up Starship, and notably the first to survive the hourlong space-skimming flight and remain floating and intact.
- Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket in the world, designed by Elon Musk to transport people and equipment to Mars and eventually the moon.
- NASA plans to use Starship along with Blue Moon lander to return astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2028 under the Artemis program.
SpaceX has completed its largest salvage operation to date, recovering its Starship rocket from the Indian Ocean near Christmas Island in late August. The recovered vehicle is now being transported back to Starbase in Texas aboard a semisubmersible ship, with the journey expected to take several months.
The July 24 launch marked the 13th test flight of a full-up Starship configuration. Unlike all previous test flights, this mission achieved a historic milestone: the vehicle survived the hourlong space-skimming flight and remained floating and intact in the ocean. SpaceX stated that the recovery effort, conducted under challenging conditions, will provide engineers with valuable data to accelerate Starship development.
Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket, central to Elon Musk's plans to establish human presence on Mars and build a city there. In the near term, NASA has selected Starship, along with Jeff Bezos' Blue Moon lander, to support the Artemis program's goal of returning astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2028.
SpaceX从印度洋回收星舰 将其运回德州
SpaceX完成了迄今为止规模最大的打捞行动，在8月下旬从圣诞岛附近的印度洋成功回收星舰火箭。回收的飞行器目前正通过半潜船运回德州Starbase基地，预计运输时间为数月。
7月24日的发射是星舰第13次全面测试飞行。与所有之前的测试飞行不同，本次任务创造了历史性突破：飞行器在完成一小时的空间掠飞后存活下来，并在海洋中保持完整漂浮。SpaceX表示，在恶劣条件下进行的回收工作将为工程师提供宝贵数据，加速星舰开发进程。
星舰是世界上最大、最强大的火箭，对于埃隆·马斯克建立人类火星存在和建造火星城市的计划至关重要。在近期目标上，NASA已选择星舰与杰夫·贝索斯的蓝月亮登陆器合作，支持阿尔忒弥斯计划在2028年前将宇航员送回月球的目标。