Shannon

SpaceX

Shannon arrives at Port Canaveral – Jenny Hautmann

Shannon (formerly GO Navigator) is a SpaceX Dragon recovery vessel based at the Port of Long Beach, California. Shannon is named after Shannon Walker, the first female NASA astronaut to fly on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule during the Crew-1 mission.

From 2018 to 2024, Shannon was based at Port Canaveral, Florida, supporting Dragon splashdowns in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Following the announcement that Dragon recovery operations would return to the Pacific Ocean in 2025, Shannon relocated from Florida to California, completing a month-long journey in December 2024. The second Dragon recovery ship, Megan, which was identical to Shannon, was retired in 2025 and did not move to California, leaving Shannon as the sole ship capable of recovering Dragon.

Shannon joined the SpaceX fleet in 2018 and underwent upgrades through 2019 to match its counterpart, Megan. The vessel is purpose-built for its role, featuring a medical treatment facility, a helipad, extensive communication radar systems, and a large lifting crane on the stern for capsule retrieval.

Shannon regularly participates in extensive training and rehearsals in preparation for Dragon missions. Prior to the initial Dragon flights, SpaceX dedicated countless hours to preparing and refining the vessels’ recovery procedures. Shannon performed its first Dragon recovery during the Crew Demo-2 mission in August 2020.

Crew-2 egress training exercise using Shannon – NASA Kennedy

Following the splashdown of a Dragon capsule, recovery teams deploy from Shannon in small, fast-approach boats to begin operations around Dragon. Their initial tasks involve comprehensive safety checks for hypergolic propellants and ensuring the crew’s welfare. Once these critical checks are complete, the capsule is rigged for hoisting onto Shannon. NASA mandates that SpaceX egress astronauts from Dragon within 60 minutes of splashdown. While the Dragon recovery operation is underway, other fast boats concurrently collect the parachutes from the ocean surface and bring them onboard.

Once Dragon has been raised onto the recovery ship, astronauts are assisted out of the capsule and taken to the onboard medical facility for checkouts. Subsequently, a helicopter lands on the vessel to transport them back to land. For Cargo Dragon operations, the helicopter is used to transport time-sensitive cargo back to Kennedy Space Center as quickly as possible.

NASA astronaut Doug Hurley egresses from Dragon onto Shannon – NASA Kennedy

Shannon successfully recovered astronauts for the first time on August 2, 2020, following the conclusion of the Crew Demo-2 mission. The Dragon Endeavour capsule was lifted from the water, and NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were egressed from the capsule and taken to the onboard medical facility for checkouts. Shortly thereafter, both were flown back to land by a helicopter that landed on Shannon.

Dragon Endeavor lifted aboard Shannon – NASA Kennedy

Fairing Recovery

When needed, Shannon has occasionally served a dual role in fairing recovery. The vessel is designed to accommodate a single Falcon 9 fairing half onboard, typically in the same area used for Dragon egress.

Notably, between April and May 2019, Shannon was temporarily reassigned to fairing recovery operations for the ArabSat-6A, Starlink 0.9, STP-2, and AMOS-17 missions. During these operations, the ship was equipped with specialized inflatables and dispatched downrange to retrieve fairing halves from the water. Shannon successfully recovered and delivered a fairing half back to Port Canaveral after each of these missions.