SpaceX's Starship 40 became the first Starship vehicle to survive a splashdown intact during its July 2026 test flight, marking progress toward eventual launch tower recovery. The arduous recovery operation involved transporting the 171-foot rocket over 12,400 miles from the Indian Ocean to Starbase in Texas, providing crucial data on heatshield performance and other systems. SpaceX plans to attempt a tower catch on a future flight and is developing Starship for NASA's Artemis lunar missions.