What Happens When a Spaceship Domain Expires?
Spaceship is a domain registrar founded by the creator of Namecheap. When a Spaceship domain expires, it goes through a multi-stage lifecycle: a 30-day grace period (with 7 days of active resolution), a 42-day redemption period, and a 5-day pending delete phase before the domain drops for public registration.
Spaceship Expired Domain Timeline
| Days After Expiration | Phase | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0–7 | Active Grace Period | Domain remains active and resolves normally. Owner can renew. |
| Day 8–30 | Suspended Grace Period | Domain stops resolving. Owner can still renew at standard price. |
| Day 31–72 | Redemption Period | Domain can be restored via Shopping Cart with redemption fee. |
| Day 73–77 | Pending Delete | Domain no longer visible in Domain Manager. Queued for release. |
| Day 77+ | Domain Drop | Domain becomes available for public registration. |
Spaceship Domain Grace Period
Spaceship provides a 30-day grace period after domain expiration. For the first 7 days, the domain remains active and continues to resolve normally — the website and email keep working. On the 8th day, the domain stops resolving, but the owner can still renew at the standard renewal price through day 30.
Spaceship Domain Redemption Period
If the domain is not renewed during the grace period, it enters a redemption period of approximately 42 days. During this time, the domain can still be recovered, but a redemption fee applies in addition to the renewal price. Redemption fees vary by TLD.
To restore a domain in redemption, add it to the Shopping Cart in your Spaceship account — the cart will display the renewal price along with the applicable redemption fee. This is the only way to proceed with restoration.
Where Does Spaceship Auction Expired Domains?
Spaceship does not currently operate a dedicated expired domain auction platform. Expired domains that are not renewed or redeemed go through the standard ICANN deletion process and become available for public registration or drop-catching after the pending delete period.
Spaceship does operate SellerHub (spaceship.com/sellerhub), a domain sales marketplace where domain owners can list domains for sale. Domains listed on SellerHub also appear in the Namecheap registration path.
Spaceship and Namecheap Connection
Spaceship was founded by the creator of Namecheap. While the two registrars share some infrastructure and distribution channels (SellerHub listings appear on both platforms), they maintain separate domain registration records and separate expiration processes.
Special TLD Rules
Some domain extensions have different timelines at Spaceship. For example, .EU domains have no grace period and enter redemption one day before their expiration date. Check Spaceship's documentation for TLD-specific rules.