SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fleet has been grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration after a launch from California on Thursday suffered an upper stage failure, sending a group of Starlink satellites into an eccentric orbit around Earth.
The FAA grounding has immediate implications for the Space Coast’s launch schedule, which is ramping up at a record pace this year. In all, 46 of the 50 missions so far in 2024 have been Falcon 9 launches from NASA’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and neighboring Kennedy Space Center.
In a statement Friday, the FAA said: “An investigation is intended to further enhance public safety, determine the cause of the occurrence, and identify corrective actions to prevent it from happening again.”
“A return to flight is based on the FAA’s determination that any system, process or procedure related to the accident does not impact public safety. Additionally, SpaceX may need to apply for and receive approval from the FAA to amend its license to include corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements,” the statement said.
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In the short term, the grounding of the Falcon 9 program in Brevard County could be postponed indefinitely:
- Sunday’s early morning mission, Starlink 10-4, was scheduled to launch before sunrise from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
- Another Starlink mission is scheduled for Wednesday.
- The Polaris Dawn mission, led by Commander Jared Isaacman, will carry four civilians into orbit to conduct the first-ever commercial spacewalk. The high-profile launch was scheduled for no earlier than July 31.
The ill-fated Falcon 9 mission lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday, carrying a payload of 20 Starlink satellites. In a statement on SpaceX’s website, company officials said a liquid oxygen leak occurred on the upper stage, which carried the satellites to just 84 miles (135 kilometers) above Earth — less than half the expected perigee altitude.
These satellites will reenter Earth’s atmosphere and “disappear completely,” the statement said. “They pose no threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety.”
“This event is a reminder of how technically challenging spaceflight is. To date, we have completed 364 successful Falcon launches — safely delivering astronauts, customer payloads, and thousands of Starlink satellites to orbit — making the Falcon rocket family one of the most reliable in the world,” SpaceX said in a statement.
“SpaceX, in cooperation with the FAA, will conduct a full investigation, determine the cause and take corrective actions to ensure the success of future missions,” the statement said.
“Thanks to a robust satellite and rocket production capacity and a high launch frequency, we are able to recover quickly and continue our momentum as the world’s most active launch service provider,” the statement said.
SpaceX’s major accidents are rare in Florida. In June 2015, a Falcon 9 broke up 2 minutes and 19 seconds after liftoff from what was then Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. That rocket was carrying a SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying more than 5,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station. Engineers blamed the failure on a broken strut that caused an explosion in the oxygen tank.
Then in September 2016, a Falcon 9 spectacularly exploded on the pad during a refueling test at the Air Force station, destroying a $200 million communications satellite. The explosion led to changes in helium loading operations.
Isaacman previously funded Inspiration4, the first fully private space mission that launched aboard a Falcon 9 from KSC in September 2021. In a tweet on Friday, he praised SpaceX’s “incredible track record” with the workhorse rocket.
“I can say from personal experience that they are very transparent when issues arise. I have no doubt that they will quickly get to the root cause and ensure the most cost-effective and reliable launch vehicle continues to deliver payloads to orbit,” Isaacman said in the tweet.
“As for Polaris Dawn, we will fly as soon as SpaceX is ready and with full confidence in the rocket, the spacecraft and the operations,” he said.
In addition to the 46 Falcon 9 missions, only four other space rockets have launched from the Space Coast this year:
In light of the FAA’s decision Friday, the next rocket firmly on the Space Coast calendar is USSF-51, a ULA Atlas V launch on July 30 for a Space Force national security mission. The rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a space reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at[email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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