SpaceX & FAA Investigations of a Low-Energy Failure of the Falcon 9 Upper Stage Engine in Orbital Launches
The Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Thursday night, carrying 20 Starlink satellites. Several minutes into the flight, the upper stage engine malfunctioned. SpaceX on Friday blamed a liquid oxygen leak.
Falcon 9’s second stage performed its first burn nominally, however a liquid oxygen leak developed on the second stage. The second burn of the upper stage engine, which was supposed to be used to raise perigee, was not able to be performed due to an issue with the engine.
The company said on its website that it would investigate the incident in conjunction with the FAA. CNBC reported that the FAA grounded the plane pending the results of the investigation.
There is a lot riding on the Falcon 9. It has been used for 52 percent of all orbital launches this year, according to Gunter Krebs’s Orbital Launches tracker. (Thursday’s launch was the 70th Falcon 9 launch in 2024; in all of 2023, the Falcon 9 was used for 96 launches.)
SpaceX, a global internet provider of satellite services, and the plan for a private mission to the ISM in July 31st
On Friday afternoon, the company said it had made contact with 10 satellites of the 20 that had been onboard but noted that the satellites are “in an enormously high-drag environment with their perigee, or lowest point of their elliptical orbit.” The maximum available thrust is “unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites,” SpaceX said, meaning that they will reenter the atmosphere and “fully demise.”
SpaceX said the satellites will reenter the atmosphere and burn up. There was no mention of when they might come down. More than 6,000 orbiting Starlinks currently provide internet service to customers in some of the most remote corners of the world.
It wasn’t known if or how the accident might affect the upcoming crew flights. A billionaire’s spaceflight is scheduled for July 31st from Florida with plans for the first private spacewalk, followed by an astronauts trip to the International Space Station in August.
The leader of the private flight, the tech entrepreneur and philanthropist, said that the Falcon 9 has an emergency escape system as well as an incredible track record.
