SpaceX Dragon cargo ship returns to Earth from space station
The SpaceX-25 Dragon cargo ship returned 4,000 pounds of science experiments and more to Earth.

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship returned to Earth with an ocean splashdown on Saturday (Aug. 20) carrying tons of science gear from the International Space Station.
The uncrewed Dragon space capsule splashed down off the coast of Florida on time at 2:53 p.m. EDT (1953 GMT) after just over a month at the space station.
"Splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing SpaceX's 25th cargo resupply mission to the space station," SpaceX wrote in a mission update on Twitter today. The company did not provide live views or images of the spacecraft's splashdown.
"Once Dragon has been retrieved by SpaceX's recovery team, the critical science aboard the spacecraft will be transported via helicopter to [NASA's Kennedy Space Center] and provided to researchers," the company added in a second Twitter post.
SpaceX launched the Dragon's SpaceX-25 mission from KSC on July 14, with the spacecraft arriving at the station two days later. It delivered 5,800 pounds (2,630 kilograms) of science experiments, crew supplies and other critical cargo to the station.
On Friday, the Dragon spacecraft undocked from the space station, setting up its return to Earth on Saturday with about 4,000 pounds (1,815 kg) of science gear. That cargo included the results of a myriad of experiments on the station that will be delivered to eager scientists.
SpaceX's Cargo Dragon capsules are uncrewed versions of the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft and designed to ferry supplies to and from the International Space Station under a multi-billion-dollar contract with NASA. SpaceX is one of two U.S. companies currently flying resupply missions to the station (Northrop Grumman is the other with the Cygnus spacecraft) with Sierra Nevada Space Systems also tapped to provide similar services for NASA with its planned Dream Chaser space plane.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
Russia's robotic Progress spacecraft also make regular cargo delivery missions, with the European Space Agency and Japan also flying their own cargo ships in the past.
The space station is currently home to seven astronauts that make up the Expedition 67 crew. The crew includes three Americans, three Russians and one European. SpaceX launched four of those astronauts on a Crew Dragon as part of its Crew-4 mission for NASA.
SpaceX will launch NASA's next crew to the space station, called Crew-5, in September.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.