After 30 days attached to the International Space Station, SpaceX's Cargo Dragon spacecraft is heading home. The vehicle supporting the 34th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-34) for NASA is scheduled to undock from the ISS on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at approximately 12:05 p.m. EDT — with splashdown off the California coast expected the following morning.
This particular Dragon — Cargo Dragon 2 capsule C209, on its sixth flight — launched from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 40 on May 15 and autonomously docked with the station's Harmony module two days later, delivering nearly 6,500 pounds of supplies and equipment to the Expedition 74 crew. The Falcon 9 booster that carried it also stuck its sixth landing at Landing Zone 40.
The return cargo is where things get interesting. Dragon will bring back thousands of pounds of scientific research samples, including bioprinted organ and cartilage tissue, materials developed for DNA-inspired cancer treatments, data from cryogenic fuel storage experiments, and an ocular imaging device. It's a reminder that the ISS's most valuable exports aren't hardware — they're research that can't be replicated in Earth's gravity.
NASA will stream the undocking live starting at 11:45 a.m. EDT on NASA+, Amazon Prime Video, and the agency's YouTube channel. Splashdown is targeted for approximately 5:08 a.m. PDT on Wednesday, June 17, though NASA won't provide a live stream for that phase — updates will appear on the agency's space station blog. For more on SpaceX's ongoing missions, check out our SpaceX coverage.
Sarah focuses on Tesla Energy, SpaceX missions, and the broader Musk AI portfolio. Former data analyst in clean energy. Based in San Francisco.
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