š UPDATE ā February 27, 2026
SpaceX's Dragon has successfully splashed down, bringing the CRS-33 mission to a close. Following undocking on Feb 26, the spacecraft completed its deorbit burn in the early hours of Feb 27, jettisoned its trunk, and closed its nosecone before beginning final descent. Drogue chutes deployed first, followed by Dragon's four main parachutes, with splashdown confirmed at approximately 07:44 UTC on February 27.
š UPDATE ā Feb 26, 2026
SpaceX has confirmed that Dragon is on track to splash down off the southern coast of California near San Diego at approximately 11:45 p.m. PT tonight. Residents along the Southern California coastline should expect a brief sonic boom as Dragon reenters Earth's atmosphere ahead of its Pacific Ocean splashdown. Recovery crews are already staged in the area to retrieve the capsule and its science cargo.
š UPDATE ā Feb 26, 2026
As Dragon prepared for its departure from the ISS today, SpaceX confirmed the spacecraft debuted a brand-new reboost capability during the CRS-33 mission. Using an independent propellant system and two Draco engines housed in a modified trunk section, Dragon performed six reboosts while docked, delivering a total of 9.034 m/s of velocity to the station ā helping maintain the ISS's orbital altitude ahead of Dragon's scheduled undocking at 12:05 p.m. ET. This marks the first time a Dragon spacecraft has contributed to station-keeping in this way, adding a meaningful new tool to NASA's ISS altitude management options as the station's own reboost resources remain constrained.
SpaceX Dragon Completes 185-Day ISS Mission ā CRS-33 Set to Undock February 26
ā” 30-Second Brief
The News: SpaceX's Cargo Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station on Thursday, February 26, 2026, wrapping up a 185-day stay that marks the completion of NASA's 33rd Commercial Resupply Services mission.
Why It Matters: CRS-33 delivered 2,300 kg of scientific cargo to the ISS ā including biomedical research payloads and a first-of-its-kind propulsion boost kit ā and is returning critical research samples to Earth. It underscores SpaceX's increasingly essential role as NASA's backbone logistics provider in low-Earth orbit.
Source: @SpaceX on X
š Key Figures
| Metric | Value | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Days Docked at ISS | 185 days | Aug 25, 2025 ā Feb 26, 2026 |
| Cargo Delivered | 2,300 kg (5,100 lb) | Science, crew provisions, fresh food |
| CRS Mission Number | CRS-33 (SpX-33) | SpaceX's 33rd NASA resupply mission |
| Dragon Vehicle | Cargo Dragon C211 | 3rd flight for this capsule |
| ISS Reboosts Performed | 5 (+ 1 planned) | Via first-ever Dragon boost kit |
| Falcon 9 Booster Flights | B1090.7 (7th flight) | Launched Aug 24, 2025 from SLC-40 |
What CRS-33 Actually Did Up There
SpaceX's Cargo Dragon launched on August 24, 2025 at 06:45 UTC from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's SLC-40, docking autonomously with the ISS less than 29 hours later. Over the next 185 days, the spacecraft served as both a cargo bay and an active utility vehicle for the station ā an expanded role that sets this mission apart from any before it.
The 2,300 kg (5,100 lb) of delivered cargo included a notable collection of biomedical research payloads: bone-forming stem cells, materials for 3D-printing medical implants, and bioprinted liver tissue. Also on board was Canada's Bio-Monitor ā a wearable health-monitoring system designed to track crew vitals non-invasively in microgravity. These aren't academic curiosities. The data and biological samples returning to Earth with Dragon will feed research pipelines that have real downstream applications in medicine and materials science.
The Boost Kit: A First for Dragon
Perhaps the most technically significant element of CRS-33 was hardware that never made headlines at launch: a "boost kit" propulsion module mounted in Dragon's unpressurized trunk. According to NASA, this kit carried enough propellant to cover approximately one-third to one-fourth of the ISS's annual reboost needs ā a task that has historically required Progress cargo ships from Roscosmos or the station's own thrusters.
By the time of its scheduled undocking, Dragon C211 had performed five ISS reboosts, with one final burn planned before departure. That's a meaningful capability transfer: SpaceX is no longer just delivering cargo to the ISS ā it's helping keep the station in the right orbit. As the geopolitical landscape around US-Russia space cooperation continues to evolve, this kind of indigenous American reboost capability carries real strategic weight.
š The BASENOR Take
Timeline
Aug 2025 ā Feb 2026
Impact Level
High ā ā ā ā ā
Confidence
Confirmed ā
CRS-33 quietly demonstrated something important: SpaceX's operational maturity in low-Earth orbit is now deep enough that a single Dragon mission can serve as cargo hauler, science platform, and orbital tug simultaneously. That's a significant engineering and contractual evolution from the early CRS days when Dragon just needed to dock, stay, and splash down.
For context, this is the same Dragon capsule (C211) that flew CRS-26 and CRS-29 before this mission. SpaceX's reusability playbook ā refined over years with Falcon 9 ā is now fully embedded in its cargo spacecraft program too. The 33rd resupply mission isn't just a logistics milestone; it's evidence that the CRS program has matured into something resembling a reliable freight rail service to orbit. Expect that operational tempo to increase, not slow down, as Starship cargo capability eventually enters the picture. Follow our SpaceX coverage for updates as that program develops.
š° Deep Dive
The undocking is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. ET on February 26, with NASA live coverage beginning at 11:45 a.m. EST. After departure, Dragon will perform a deorbit burn and execute a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. NASA will not provide live splashdown coverage but will post updates on the ISS blog.
What returns to Earth matters as much as what was delivered. The biological samples aboard ā including data from the bone stem cell and bioprinted liver tissue experiments ā represent months of microgravity research that cannot be replicated on the ground. Time-sensitive samples will be rushed to research teams after recovery, making the precision of Dragon's splashdown and retrieval logistics directly relevant to scientific outcomes.
This mission is also a reminder of how quietly reliable the Falcon 9 / Dragon stack has become. Booster B1090 flew its seventh mission to deliver CRS-33, and Cargo Dragon C211 is now three-for-three on ISS missions. In an era where every rocket launch once made front-page news, SpaceX has turned orbital cargo delivery into something closer to scheduled airline service ā a remarkable operational achievement by any measure.
Thursday's undocking marks the end of CRS-33's active ISS mission, but the data and samples it returns will generate research output for years. That's the real payload of any science resupply flight, and on that metric, SpaceX and NASA appear to have delivered again.
