Residents along the San Diego coast may find themselves awakened by more than the crash of ocean waves this morning. According to FOX 5 San Diego, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is set to complete its journey back to Earth with a splashdown off the coast, accompanied by the sharp clap of a sonic boom. The craft, which is carrying the Ax-4 astronauts Peggy Whitson, Shubhandshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Tibor Kapu, is expected to make its oceanic touchdown at approximately 2:31 AM PT today.
The return trajectory was set into motion Monday when the spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station at 7:15 AM. After performing departure burns and orbit-lowering maneuvers, the spacecraft will break through Earth’s atmosphere, jettison the its trunk, and descend to the Pacific Ocean. The crew is concluding a mission that began with a launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 25th, connecting once again with solid Earth 22.5 hours after their departure from the station.
SpaceX has mapped out a precise reentry and splashdown plan, which has been communicated through their social media channels. A recent SpaceX post stated, "Dragon and the @Axiom_Space
Ax-4 crew are on track to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego at ~2:31 a.m. PT tomorrow." Furthermore, they mentioned the spacecraft "will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean."
Dragon and the @Axiom_Space Ax-4 crew are on track to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego at ~2:31 a.m. PT tomorrow.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 15, 2025
Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean pic.twitter.com/dS3KuHVWdH
