SpaceX’s fleet of Falcon 9 rockets has been grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration after Thursday’s launch from California caused an upper stage failure that put a batch of Starlink satellites into an eccentric orbit.
The FAA grounding has an immediate impact on the Space Coast’s launch schedule — which is at a record high this year. All told, 46 of the 50 missions so far through 2024 have been Falcon 9 launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the adjacent NASA Kennedy Space Center.
In a statement Friday, the FAA said “the investigation is designed to further enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to prevent recurrence.”
“Return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the accident will not affect public safety. In addition, SpaceX may need to seek and obtain approval from the FAA to modify its license, which includes any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements,” the statement said.
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In the short term, Brevard County could delay the Falcon 9 program’s termination indefinitely:
- Sunday’s early morning Starlink 10-4 mission, scheduled for a pre-dawn launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
- Another early morning Starlink mission scheduled for Wednesday.
- The Polaris Dawn mission, led by Commander Jared Isaacman, will send four civilians into orbit to conduct the first-ever commercial spacewalk. A high-profile launch was set for July 31 at the earliest.
Thursday’s ill-fated Falcon 9 mission lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying a payload of 20 Starlink satellites. In a statement on the SpaceX website, company officials said there was a liquid oxygen leak on the upper stage that placed the satellites only 135 kilometers above Earth – less than half the expected perigee height.
These satellites will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and “completely disappear”, the statement said, and “do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety”.
“This event is a reminder of how technically demanding spaceflight is. To date, we have completed 364 successful Falcon launches – safely carrying astronauts, customer payloads and thousands of Starlink satellites into orbit – making the Falcon family of rockets one of the most reliable in the world . the world,” SpaceX said in a statement.
“SpaceX will conduct a full investigation in coordination with the FAA, determine the root cause and implement corrective actions to ensure the success of future missions,” the statement said.
“With a robust satellite and rocket manufacturing capacity and high launch cadence, we are poised to recover quickly and continue our momentum as the world’s most active launch service provider,” the statement said.
Major SpaceX accidents have been rare in Florida. In June 2015, Falcon 9 broke up 2 minutes and 19 seconds after liftoff from what was then Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. That rocket carried SpaceX’s Dragon capsule with more than 5,000 pounds of supplies bound for the International Space Station. Engineers blamed a broken strut that caused the oxygen tank to explode.
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 orbital space mission, which launched aboard Falcon 9 in September 2021 from KSC. In a tweet on Friday, he praised SpaceX’s “incredible track record” with the thruster rocket.
“I can say from personal experience that they are very transparent when there are problems. I have no doubt they will get to the root cause quickly and ensure the most cost-effective and reliable launch vehicle delivers cargo to orbit,” Isaacman said in a tweet.
“For Polaris Dawn, we will fly whenever SpaceX is ready and with complete confidence in the rocket, spacecraft and operations,” he said.
In addition to the 46 Falcon 9 missions, only four other orbital rockets have launched from the Space Coast this year:
In light of Friday’s FAA decision, the next rocket definitively scheduled on USSF-51’s Space Coast calendar is the July 30 ULA Atlas V launch on the Space Force’s national security mission. The rocket will take off from Launch Complex 41 at the 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 the Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale atRneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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