SpaceX recovers rocket that splashed down off Christmas Island

In short: SpaceX says one of its rockets that landed in the Indian Ocean off Christmas Island has been recovered. Rough seas had initially hampered the retrieval operation. The rocket has caused a great deal of excitement in the remote territory off Western Australia's coast. SpaceX has successfully retrieved a rocket that splashed down in the Indian Ocean off Christmas Island, the company owned by Elon Musk has said. The 52-metre-long space debris has caused a stir in the remote territory, with locals lining up along the rugged coastline to catch a glimpse of the rocket as it was towed in. The rocket, named Ship 40, was launched on July 24 from Texas. After its mission, it landed near Christmas Island, some 1,500 kilometres off the coast of Western Australia. A recovery operation coordinated by the federal government and SpaceX was initially hampered by rough seas, the company said. But after some 24 days at sea, SpaceX confirmed late yesterday the rocket had been retrieved. "The SpaceX Recovery team successfully guided Starship to a location just off the coast of Christmas Island," the company said on X. "A team of SpaceX engineers is on their way to conduct additional analysis on the vehicle in calmer waters before attempting to return it to Starbase." Christmas Island Tourism Association chair David Watchorn marvelled at the size of the rocket as it came into view. "It was just there, huge,"he said. More space junk to come The recovery of the rocket off Christmas Island comes after a four-tonne abandoned upper stage of a SpaceX rocket crashed into the moon two weeks ago, thrusting the issue of space junk into the spotlight. Space archaeologist and Flinders University associate professor Alice Gorman said Australians should expect to see a lot more space junk over the next few years, given the surge in launches. Objects launched into space have skyrocketed in recent years, with 4,510 launches in 2025, compared to 586 in 2019, according United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs data. Loading..."A study that was done a few years ago showed that as the number of launches increased, we specifically in the southern hemisphere are likely to get more space junk than the northern hemisphere is," Associate Professor Gorman said. There have been several space junk incidents in Australia over the last few years. Most recently, several metallic "space balls" were discovered on a north Queensland beach in July, with the Australian Space Agency confirming they were likely from a space launch vessel. In October last year, space junk believed to be from a Chinese rocket was found near a mine site in Newman in WA's north.