1-10-2024 (WASHINGTON) The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered SpaceX to halt launches of its Falcon 9 rocket following a malfunction during a recent NASA astronaut mission. This marks the third grounding for the spacecraft in as many months, raising concerns about the reliability of the company’s workhorse launch vehicle.
On Saturday, SpaceX successfully launched two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. However, the mission was not without incident. After separating from the crew capsule, the rocket’s second stage failed to properly reignite its engine for the scheduled “deorbit burn” – a routine procedure designed to safely dispose of the booster in the ocean.
While the astronauts safely reached their destination, docking with the ISS on Sunday as planned, the errant booster caused alarm by landing in an unapproved area of the Pacific Ocean. The FAA confirmed that no injuries or property damage resulted from the mishap, but emphasised the seriousness of the incident.
SpaceX acknowledged the problem in a statement, noting that the second stage “experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn” and “safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area.” The company pledged to suspend further launches until they “better understand root cause” of the malfunction.
This latest setback continues a troubling trend for SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket, which has become a critical component of Western space infrastructure. In July, a second-stage issue resulted in the loss of a batch of Starlink satellites, marking SpaceX’s first mission failure in over seven years. The rocket was grounded for 15 days before resuming flights.
August saw another temporary grounding when a Falcon 9 first stage failed to land as intended. While this did not affect the primary mission objectives, it highlighted ongoing concerns about the rocket’s reliability.
