# Starship Flight 13 recovery not looking good: Elon Musk 2026-08-08T16:42:35+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Elon Musk says recovery of SpaceX's Flight 13 Starship from the Indian Ocean faces major problems because of rough seas. The 52-metre craft made its most successful splashdown days ago, staying afloat for recovery. But in a post on X, Musk wrote: "Unfortunately, ship recovery is not looking good right now." The company's recovery team is battling rough conditions to tow the vessel to port. Even if recovery fails, SpaceX has gathered close-up photos of the heat shield and Raptor engines for future upgrades. Flight 13, launched from Texas in late July, deployed 20 Starlink satellites and performed a controlled soft splashdown, staying largely intact, a first for the programme. Earlier test flights ended with the vehicle breaking apart or sinking quickly. Maritime experts say recovering such a large rocket from open water is technically very hard. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Tags: Elon Musk, Indian Ocean, recovery, spaceflight, SpaceX, Starship Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/starship-flight-13-recovery-not-looking-good-elon-musk/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/starship-flight-13-recovery-not-looking-good-elon-musk/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.