Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket Ship 40 towed to Christmas Island during salvage operation

Christmas Island locals have been treated to an unexpected maritime arrival on Tuesday, after the latest SpaceX rocket was towed into one of the island’s protected bays.

The rocket, named Ship 40, had been floating in the Indian Ocean since late July when it splashed down after a test flight, but did not sink as anticipated.

On July 29, Mr Musk announced on X that a ship had been sent to recover the rocket, and keen-eyed space enthusiasts have been following the rocket’s progress ever since.

It was not originally expected to be recovered, but the rocket outperformed expectations as it re-entered the atmosphere and splashdowned in the Indian Ocean, according to The Australian.

Earlier this month, SpaceX said its team was still working to recover the starship from the ocean.

“They’ve been overcoming challenging conditions and increasingly rough seas as they attempt to guide the 52m-long spacecraft to port,” it said on X.

With the rocket now safely at Christmas Island, a 500m exclusion zone has been set up around it and the support vessels.

It is unclear where the rocket will go next and how it will get there — the recovery vessels have been towing it at one knot and sailing at that speed it would take more than a year to reach the US.

The sight of the spaceship’s recovery towards the Australian territory has quickly become the talk of the town in the small island community.

David Watchorn, the owner of a local dive store, took his boat out to get a closer look at the rocket and took photographs of the spacecraft bobbing about a kilometre from shore.

“It’s been pretty exciting, everyone’s headed down to the cliff edge to take photos,” he said.

Mr Watchorn is also the Chair of the Christmas Island Tourism Association and is hopeful the rocket’s arrival will help boost the international profile of the remote island, giving it a small place in the history of space travel.

“It’s definitely a different kind of arrival, it’s a great one and probably puts us on a world stage,” he said.

“This rocket will be in a museum in 100 years time and everyone will look at it – this is the test flight of something quite revolutionary.”