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SpaceX tows Starship upper stage after poor recovery

8/29/2026

Summary

SpaceX Recovers Stage

SpaceX loaded the intact Starship upper stage onto a semi-submersible ship near Christmas Island.
The 171-foot stage splashed down in the Indian Ocean on July 24, 2026 after Flight 13.
Engineers inspected the floating vehicle and collected heat-shield samples for analysis.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Aug. 7 recovery looked poor.
SpaceX later announced the stage was successfully towed to the semi-submersible.

Summary

Landry Announces

Governor Jeff Landry announced a $100 billion investment to build Starbase Louisiana, the state’s largest spaceport.
The deal includes a $20 million upfront payment and at least $25 million annually for 25 years, totaling $820 million.
SpaceX projects 3,000 direct jobs and over 8,100 indirect jobs within the next decade.
Elon Musk said the project could eventually support more than 10,000 jobs, exceeding state estimates.

History

Historical Context

In 1969, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission landed astronauts on the Moon, demonstrating the United States’ capability to launch, orbit, and recover large spacecraft. The program cost $25.4 billion (?$150 billion today) and employed over 400,000 workers across Boeing, North American Aviation, and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Similarly, SpaceX now recovers its 171-foot Starship upper stage and secures a $100 billion Louisiana spaceport deal, echoing Apollo’s large-scale hardware retrieval and government-industry partnership. Apollo’s massive public investment and technical triumph indicate that today’s commercial-government collaborations could reshape aerospace infrastructure and create thousands of jobs.

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SpaceX Recovers Stage

SpaceX loaded the intact Starship upper stage onto a semi-submersible ship near Christmas Island.
The 171-foot stage splashed down in the Indian Ocean on July 24, 2026 after Flight 13.
Engineers inspected the floating vehicle and collected heat-shield samples for analysis.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Aug. 7 recovery looked poor.
SpaceX later announced the stage was successfully towed to the semi-submersible.

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