Get the latest tech news

SpaceX moving Dragon splashdowns to Pacific to solve falling debris problem

"We've decided to shift Dragon recovery operations back to the West Coast."

In the past couple of years, landowners have discovered debris from several Dragon missions on their property, and the fragments all came from the spacecraft's trunk, an unpressurized section mounted behind the capsule as it carries astronauts or cargo on flights to and from the International Space Station. When an upgraded human-rated version of Dragon started flying in 2019, SpaceX moved splashdowns to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico to be closer to the company's refurbishment and launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX and NASA, which funded a large portion of the Dragon spacecraft's development, initially determined the trunk would entirely burn up when it reentered the atmosphere and would pose no threat of surviving reentry and causing injuries or damaging property.

Get the Android app