“An investigation has begun to improve public safety, determine the cause of the incident, and identify corrective actions to prevent recurrence,” the FAA said.
“The Falcon 9 rocket’s return to flight is subject to the FAA’s determination that no system, process or procedure related to the anomaly will affect public safety,” the agency said.
A rare and unexpected failure of the Falcon 9 occurred after the rocket put the last batch of 21 Starlink satellites, Internet providers, into orbit during a launch that was carried out in the early hours of the morning.
An internet broadcast from tycoon Elon Musk’s company showed the first stage of the rocket, which normally deploys its thrusters to land upright, tilt and explode as it descends over a drone off coast of Florida.
While removing the booster is a secondary goal and public life or property was not at risk, the reusability of the entire rocket system is critical to SpaceX’s business model. With this event, a streak of more than three years with hundreds of successful promotions was stopped.
The Falcon 9 is the flagship rocket in SpaceX’s space fleet, contracted by the US government and private industry to launch satellites and astronauts into orbit.
The last time the rocket was grounded due to problems was in July, for about two weeks, when the second stage engine developed an anomaly that stopped another set of Starlink satellites from being launched at the right height, causing them to burn after re-. into the Earth’s atmosphere.
This new obstacle could delay the next scheduled launch, the Polaris Dawn mission, a multi-day orbital mission organized and financed by billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman that aims to to make the first spacewalks with an all-civilian crew.
2024-08-29 07:46:12
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