On Wednesday, August 28th, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket after a failed landing attempt that resulted in the spacecraft toppling over and catching fire. This incident occurred following a successful launch of 21 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The reusable rocket booster had successfully completed its 23rd mission, marking a record-breaking achievement. However, upon landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean roughly nine minutes after launch, the rocket unexpectedly tipped over and burst into flames.
Fortunately, no injuries or damage to public property were reported in connection with the mishap. The FAA immediately announced a pause on all Falcon 9 launches later that day, effectively putting all planned missions on hold until the agency completes its investigation into the incident. The duration of the investigation remains unclear, but it has already impacted the planned launch of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission. This mission, which was scheduled to take four private citizens into orbit for a five-day voyage, was originally planned for as early as Friday, August 30th. The mission has already faced two previous delays due to unfavorable weather conditions.
The incident on August 28th not only ended the record-breaking recovery streak for that particular Falcon 9 rocket but also interrupted a longer chain of successful SpaceX landings. Before Wednesday’s mishap, SpaceX had successfully landed 267 consecutive Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy booster landings. This grounding marks the second time this year that the Falcon 9 has been temporarily halted due to technical issues. In July, the rocket’s upper stage malfunctioned during a Starlink launch, resulting in the loss of 23 satellites. Despite the upper stage failure, the rocket’s lower booster stage managed to successfully land. The FAA subsequently grounded Falcon 9 for 15 days after the July incident.
