SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Grounded

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket encountered a rare mid-flight failure during the launch of the Starlink Group 9-3 mission from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base. The mission, which aimed to deploy 20 satellites to low Earth orbit, experienced an unusual upper-stage failure when the rocket's second stage failed to reignite its engine as planned, leading to the destruction of the stage.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, confirmed the failure and attributed it to an engine restart issue caused by a leak of liquid oxygen in the second stage. As a result, the Falcon 9 rocket is currently grounded pending an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has stated that it will be intricately involved in the investigative process and will need to approve SpaceX's final report and any corrective actions.

Despite the setback, SpaceX successfully deployed 20 Starlink satellites, although they ended up in a lower-than-intended orbit due to the engine failure. While SpaceX made efforts to use the satellites' onboard thrusters to raise them to a higher orbit, the company confirmed that the satellites would not be recovered and would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up. However, there is no threat posed to other satellites or public safety.

This rare in-flight failure marks a significant deviation from Falcon 9's impeccable track record, as the rocket had previously achieved over 300 consecutive successful orbital launches. The investigation into this incident is likely to delay upcoming launches, including two crewed missions - Polaris Dawn and NASA's Crew-9.

In conclusion, the recent incident with the Falcon 9 rocket underscores the complex and high-stakes nature of spaceflight, with safety and technical challenges constantly demanding vigilance and attention to detail.

Original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/12/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-grounded-after-rare-inflight-failure.html

Credit: SpaceX