SpaceX · 7 Oct 2026
Ship 40 is back in Texas
Ship 40 is the first Starship upper stage to fly to space and come back in one piece. It reached the Port of Brownsville near Starbase aboard the heavy-lift ship Forte, 75 days after splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX already said the first hands-on look at a returned ship is what changed the heatshield they are flying now. That is the loop I care about: fly, splash, inspect, change the next one. Catching one is still the missing scene. Every upper stage so far has ended in the ocean.
Morgan Stanley called the first catch the biggest catalyst for SpaceX stock since the IPO. I posted that next to this because a ship on a deck in Texas is the closest thing we have to a dress rehearsal.
I quoted SpaceX’s own Starship series when I posted it. If you want the company voice, that is the link. If you want the fan-account version: the voyage home is the story until someone catches the next one.