Another SpaceX mission has encountered a setback. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded the company’s Falcon 9 rocket following an incident where a booster exploded during its descent back to Earth. The explosion occurred on Wednesday morning during a routine satellite launch from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida, as reported by CBS News.
According to SpaceX, the Falcon 9’s first stage booster experienced an issue after a successful ascent. “After a successful launch, Falcon 9’s first stage booster tipped over upon landing on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship,” the company stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter). The booster then caught fire before falling onto its side and into the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately, the Falcon 9’s second stage successfully deployed 21 internet satellites into low-Earth orbit, marking a partial success for the mission.
The FAA has announced it will investigate the incident to determine the cause and establish corrective measures to prevent future occurrences. Thankfully, there were no injuries, no damage to property, and no crew was aboard the droneship at the time.
This incident represents the first failure to recover a Falcon 9 booster since February 2021, ending a notable streak of 267 consecutive successful landings. The grounding of the Falcon 9 rocket could have repercussions for upcoming missions, including the Polaris Dawn mission, which was originally set to launch this month. The crewed spaceflight, targeting an August 26 launch, had already been delayed earlier in the week due to a helium leak and was further postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
The FAA stated that the Falcon 9 rocket will only return to flight once it has been determined that any system, process, or procedure related to the incident does not compromise public safety. Additionally, SpaceX may need to seek FAA approval to modify its license to incorporate any necessary corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements.
When it does proceed, the Polaris Dawn mission is set to send four crew members into space, including billionaire Jared Isaacman, who is funding the Polaris program. The mission will utilize SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to launch the non-professional astronauts into Earth’s orbit. If successful, the crew will perform the first commercial spacewalk using newly developed EVA space suits and reach altitudes surpassing those achieved since NASA’s Apollo missions of the 1970s.
