A farmer in Canada made an unexpected discovery in late April when he found a large piece of space junk in his field that is believed to have fallen from a SpaceX mission. The fragment, measuring 2 meters wide and weighing 40 kilograms, landed on the farm of Barry Sawchuk in Saskatchewan province, northeast of Regina.

The piece of space debris was described as a burned-up section of carbon fiber with a honeycomb aluminum lattice structure. Additionally, a hydraulic cylinder was found attached to it. Sawchuk expressed his surprise at the find, stating, ‘Not every day you go out in your field and find space junk. We knew it came from the sky, because it couldn’t get there by itself.’

University of Regina astronomy professor Samantha Lawler highlighted the potential danger posed by such incidents, stating that if the debris had landed in a more populated area like Regina or New York City, it could have had fatal consequences. Sawchuk, on the other hand, plans to sell the piece of space junk and donate some of the proceeds to a local hockey rink project in Ituna, Saskatchewan, where he was born and raised.

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell from the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics shared insights on the incident, noting that the piece likely originated from the Dragon Trunk section of the Axiom 3 mission that reentered the atmosphere over Saskatchewan on February 26. McDowell mentioned that composite materials used in the trunk surprisingly survive reentry well.

This is not the first instance of SpaceX debris falling back to Earth, as remnants from previous missions have also been reported. The increasing amount of space junk poses a growing concern, emphasizing the need for effective space debris management strategies to mitigate potential risks.