SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket recently experienced an in-flight failure during the “Starlink Group 9-3” mission, causing the rocket’s upper second stage to fail to reignite its engine as planned. This resulted in the destruction of the second stage. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed the incident and mentioned that the engine failure was a result of a leak of liquid oxygen in the second stage.
Following the incident, the Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded pending an investigation by SpaceX. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has stated that they will be involved in every step of the investigation process and must approve SpaceX’s final report and any corrective actions before the rocket can be cleared for future launches.
The investigation into the Falcon 9 incident is likely to delay upcoming launches, including two crewed missions: the private Polaris Dawn and NASA’s Crew-9. Despite the second stage engine failure, SpaceX was able to deploy the 20 Starlink satellites into orbit. However, due to the failure, the satellites were placed in a lower than intended orbit.
SpaceX attempted to salvage the situation by making contact with 10 of the satellites onboard and utilizing their thrusters to climb higher in orbit. Unfortunately, the company confirmed that the satellites will not be recovered due to the “enormously high-drag environment” from being in the wrong orbit. The satellites are expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up, with SpaceX stating that they do not pose a threat to other satellites or public safety.
Prior to this incident, the Falcon 9 rocket had a remarkable track record of success, with over 300 consecutive successful orbital launches since 2015. The previous in-flight failure occurred during the NASA cargo mission CRS-7. Overall, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has completed 354 missions to orbit, with more than 300 successful landings and the reuse of rocket boosters over 280 times.
The recent misfire of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket serves as a reminder of the inherent risks and complexities involved in space exploration and satellite deployment. While setbacks are a part of the industry, SpaceX’s commitment to safety and transparency throughout the investigation process will be crucial in ensuring the future reliability and success of their missions.