spaceX is making the changes it announced a few months ago. Moving the recovery of Dragon capsules (including crewed ones) from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean to reduce the problem of space debris.
As we recently wrote, SpaceX is conducting several operations in parallel. The American company is developing the new fully reusable space rocket Starship (which should fly again in early January 2025). Then the launches of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy space rockets continue . Which have reached a decidedly impressive cadence, allowing them to launch missions for US agencies . But also for European and other nations, as well as for private companies.
SpaceX is also continuing to expand its network of Starlink satellites for internet connectivity (and is the only company that can count on managing all phases of implementation, from satellite construction to space launches). Another important operation is the launch of the Dragon space capsules . Both cargo and crew, which have allowed NASA to no longer have to pay Roscosmos and Russia to carry astronauts aboard the International Space Station . After the end of the Space Shuttle missions.
Up until today, the Dragon spacecraft has made landfalls in the Atlantic Ocean around the Gulf of Mexico or off the shores of Florida. At the end of July 2024, SpaceX announced a change of strategy. In agreement with the partners and agencies involved to recover the space capsules, including crewed ones (Crew Dragonn). In the Pacific Ocean off the shores of California .
SpaceX: Dragon spacecraft recovery operations shift from Atlantic to Pacific
This change was made to reduce the risk that parts of the trunk (the unpressurized rear area) of the Dragon capsules could fall back onto land and potentially populated areas as has happened in the past. This component separates from the spacecraft shortly before reentry. Covering the lower heat shield (and being able to carry a payload). However, it is a passive element that does not have engines or the ability to be directed.
This means that once released it can re-enter relatively large areas of the surface. It is not a particularly large component nor with a significant mass . But several cases have been reported where fragments of not exactly small dimensions have reached the surface (without causing injuries or damage). An example is what happened in Canada in May 2024 or in Australia in the summer of 2022 .
To allow the recovery of the Dragon spacecraft, it is necessary to have a support crew trained for various situations (even in case of emergency) . In addition to providing support ships for the actual recovery of the capsule once splashdown has taken place. For this reason, the support ship Shannon , used by SpaceX , left the port of Cape Canaveral in Florida to head. Through the Panama Canal, to the new operational headquarters in Long Beach in California . Where it should arrive by January 30, 2025.
Another possible positive consequence of moving operations from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Could be the reduction of delays in capsule returns due to bad weather in the splashdown area. In the past, there have been many missions that have had to postpone their returns due to unsuitable sea conditions or, more generally, weather.
One of the first missions to use SpaceX’s new operational strategy could be Crew-9. Which will return no earlier than the end of March 2025, after Crew-10 has reached the International Space Station. And spent a few days overlapping. Crew-9 will carry NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov . NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will also be on board . Having reached the ISS on a Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsule but who, for safety reasons , will return on a Crew Dragon.https://youtu.be/L3cq5v9kOvY?si=c3Paj-lNcuVBYSzE