NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has urged SpaceX to maintain focus on safety amid recent issues with its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, noting the importance of vigilance as mission frequency rises.

The panel highlighted several recent incidents, including a Falcon 9 second-stage launch failure in July, an engine anomaly in September, and a delayed Crew-8 parachute deployment.

The panel also supported SpaceX’s decision to move Dragon splashdowns to California for safer reentry and praised NASA’s safety culture in handling technical challenges on Boeing’s Starliner crewed test flight, Space News has reported.

Written by B.C. Begley