SpaceX spacecraft debris weighing 88 pounds lands on Canadian farm

While surveying his canola field, farmer Barry Sawchuk and his son stumbled upon an unusual discovery: a charred piece of hefty metal.

Sawchuk, whose farm is situated near Ituna, a small town in Saskatchewan, Canada, found the metal object believed to be space debris, possibly originating from a SpaceX capsule.

According to CBC’s report, the fragment measures approximately 6.5 feet in width and weighs a substantial 88 pounds.

The metal’s layers displayed burnt composite fibers and webbing, indicating it was likely space debris, though Sawchuk remained uncertain.

Following the discovery, local news reports attracted the attention of astronomy professors.

Samantha Lawler, an astronomy professor at Regina University, examined the debris and proposed that it likely originated from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which re-entered the atmosphere in February of the current year.

The Dragon had returned four astronauts from the private Ax-3 mission aboard the ISS. Undocking on February 7, the crew safely returned to Earth on February 9. The reusable crew capsule splashed down safely off the coast of Daytona, Florida, while the disposable trunk module re-entered on its own. This module likely landed on Barry’s farm.

The Canadian farmer plans to sell the metal debris and donate the proceeds towards the construction of a hockey arena in Saskatchewan.

According to international space law, countries are obligated to return any space debris to its country of origin. Consequently, the debris discovered on Barry’s farm should technically be returned to the United States, where SpaceX is headquartered. However, SpaceX may opt to simply give away the space debris.

A comparable incident took place in July 2022 when SpaceX’s Dragon trunk module landed on farmland in Australia.