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Posted by Allen Newton
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24 Aug, 2026
THE BOSKALIS semi-submersible heavy transport Forte, which arrived at Christmas Island on Sunday night, is among the vessels playing a role in the unusual recovery operation of a SpaceX upper stage that remained afloat in the Indian Ocean for more than three weeks.
Boskalis will flood its ballast tanks to enable it to move below Ship 40 before deballasting to lift the the spacecraft clear of the water before embarking on the voyage back to Texas.
The 91-metre offshore vessel, Solstad Offshore’s Normand Ranger, was the first ship to reach Ship 40, the 52‑metre Starship upper stage that splashed down intact on 24 July after a test flight from Texas.
The vehicle, nicknamed the “Starboat” by observers, surprised engineers by staying buoyant despite heavy seas and persistent winds.
Industry reports indicate Normand Ranger stabilised the drifting vehicle and commenced towage at around three knots, working through rough conditions that included 14‑foot swells and winds above 30 mph.
The vessel was later joined by other offshore support ships, including Tidewatr’s Skimmer Tide and MMA Offshore’s Go Australis, forming a small recovery flotilla in Australian external territory waters.
The operation was coordinated with the Australian Space Agency and federal authorities, who monitored the recovery zone as the vessel convoy moved the Starship section into calmer waters near Christmas Island.
SpaceX engineers are now inspecting the vehicle before it is transported back to the United States.
While SpaceX typically uses its own contracted recovery vessels for Falcon and Starship operations, the involvement of a large offshore support ships such as Forte and Normand Ranger highlights the scale and complexity of retrieving a 52‑metre spacecraft from open ocean conditions.
The recovery marks one of the most unusual maritime operations undertaken in Australia’s region this year, blending offshore towage, exclusion‑zone management and emerging space‑industry logistics.
SpaceX has not released further details on the next steps for Ship 40, but the company has described the recovery as a significant milestone in its Starship test program.
