SpaceX's recovered Starship 40 will take months to get back to Texas

SpaceX’s Starship 40 launched from Starbase on July 24, deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites in a 65-minute suborbital flight, and survived an intact splashdown in the Indian Ocean after 24 days at sea. The 171-foot upper stage was transferred to the 710-foot transport ship Forte, which will tow it to Texas over a several-month voyage, with an estimated arrival around October 8. Engineers have already retrieved heat-shield samples to inform future Starship designs.