NASA and SpaceX Announce at Crew-9 Conference: Crew Dragon Recovery to Shift to West Coast in 2025 to Mitigate Trunk Debris Risk

Jul 26, 2024, 06:33 PM

NASA and SpaceX have announced at the Crew-9 Conference that Crew Dragon recovery operations will shift from the East Coast to the West Coast. This decision, confirmed during the conference, follows findings from the Trunk re-entry and aims to mitigate the risk of trunk debris falling over land. The transition will occur in 2025, with a Dragon recovery vessel moving to the Pacific and utilizing existing SpaceX facilities in the Port of Long Beach to support post-flight work and operations. Job advertisements for West Coast Dragon recovery engineers were seen as early as May, and the vessel will start moving some time next year.