The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday grounded SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket after a rocket booster that supported a Starlink mission earlier in the day failed to land upright on a droneship at sea and exploded upon returning to Earth.
What Happened: SpaceX launched 21 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Florida at 3:48 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Though the satellites were successfully deployed, the first stage booster tipped over following touchdown at the droneship in the sea.
"Teams are assessing the booster's flight data and status. This was the booster's 23rd launch," SpaceX said.
After a successful ascent, Falcon 9's first stage booster tipped over following touchdown on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship. Teams are assessing the booster's flight data and status. This was the booster's 23rd launch.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 28, 2024
The FAA subsequently demanded an investigation. The return to flight of the Falcon 9 rocket will be based on the agency determining that the anomaly doesn't affect public safety. No injuries to public or public property have been reported, the agency said.
"The FAA is aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starlink Group 8-6 mission that launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on August 28," the agency said in an update.
"The FAA is requiring an investigation," it added.
Benzinga has reached out to SpaceX and Polaris Program for a statement. We will update the story as soon as we receive a response.
Why It Matters: It is unclear as to how long the halt in operations may last.
SpaceX halted launch operations for two weeks in July after an issue was identified with a Falcon 9 rocket's second-stage engine. The issue was identified during a Starlink mission launch on July 11 and the company resumed launch operations on July 27 after completing an investigation and deploying necessary design changes.
However, the halt in operations is likely to impact future launches including the upcoming all-civilian Polaris Dawn mission as part of which the company intends to attempt the first-ever spacewalk by a commercial company. The Polaris Dawn mission will be launched using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.
This mission was initially slated to launch earlier this week but the company postponed it with no fresh dates in sight owing to unfavorable weather forecast on Tuesday.
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Photo courtesy: SpaceX