This image from a video provided by SpaceX shows the upper stage engine of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during a launch from California on Thursday, July 11, 2024. The rocket carrying 20 Starlink satellites failed during an explosion, leaving the company’s internet satellites in a dangerous low orbit. Credit: SpaceX, via AP
A SpaceX rocket has malfunctioned for the first time in nearly a decade, leaving the company’s internet satellite in a very low orbit, destined to fall into the atmosphere and burn up.
The Falcon 9 rocket was launching from California on Thursday night carrying 20 Starlink satellites when its upper stage engine failed minutes into the flight. SpaceX On Friday, they said the cause was a liquid oxygen leak.
The company Flight Controller They made contact with half the satellites and attempted to launch them to a higher altitude. Orbit It will be launched using onboard ion thrusters, but with the lower end of its orbit just 84 miles (135 kilometers) above Earth, less than half the distance originally planned, “the maximum thrust available will likely not be sufficient to successfully launch the satellite,” the company said through X.
SpaceX said the satellites would burn up as they re-entered the atmosphere, without saying when they would fall. There are now more than 6,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, providing internet service to customers in some of the world’s most remote places.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the issue must be resolved before the Falcon rocket can fly again.
It’s unclear if and how the incident will affect SpaceX’s future crewed missions. The billionaire’s flight is scheduled to depart from Florida on July 31 for the first private spacewalk, followed by a NASA astronaut to the International Space Station in mid-August.
Jared Isaacman, the tech entrepreneur leading the private flight, said Friday that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has a “great track record” and is equipped with an emergency escape system.
The last launch failure occurred in 2015 while delivering cargo to the space station. The following year, another rocket exploded during a ground test.
SpaceX’s Elon Musk said higher flight rates would make it easier to identify and fix problems.
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