Space exploration enthusiasts have been tracking the unprecedented journey of SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype, which wound up floating in the Indian Ocean after the company’s latest test flight. Now, satellites have captured mind-bending images of boats working to haul the rocket back to shore.

The saga of Ship 40 — as this specific Starship prototype is called — began on July 24 with the launch of SpaceX’s 13th fully integrated test flight the rocket system, which includes the upper spacecraft, or “ship,” as well as the Super Heavy rocket booster, the bottommost part of the rocket that fires the ship off the launchpad and toward space.

SpaceX has been hashing out how to return the upper spacecraft to a controlled landing after flight — a feat that is crucial to the company’s plans to eventually recover and rapidly reuse the vehicles, which could drastically drive down launch costs.

SpaceX did not expect to recover Ship 40.

But during the July test flight, the vehicle showed marked improvement over its predecessors by retaining the function of all six of its engines, maintaining control throughout the violent process of reentering Earth’s atmosphere, and making its “softest” splashdown yet at its target landing site in the ocean, according to SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot. The splashdown was a “dream scenario,” Huot said on SpaceX’s livestream of the test flight.

The landing was so gentle, in fact, that Ship 40 appeared to remain airtight and floated in the ocean rather than sinking to the bottom as prior prototypes have. A SpaceX recovery ship, called Go Australis, initially stayed near the vehicle.

On July 28, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the company would recover the vehicle. Two more ships, Norwegian tugboats named Normand Ranger and Skimmer Tide have now joined that effort.

Satellite images taken Sunday and Monday by Vantor, a Colorado-based geospatial intelligence company, show the recovery attempt, with a small boat deployed next to Starship and a line attached to its nose. It’s unclear from the images if the towing has begun yet, but ship tracking data from MarineTraffic on Monday showed Skimmer Tide and Normand Ranger moving at about one knot and broadcasting that they had restricted maneuverability. Go Australis separated from the other ships and is on its way back to Australia alone.