SpaceX cleared to launch Falcon 9 rocket after rare failure

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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, the world’s most used launch vehicle, is ready to resume flight after suffering a mission-ending malfunction during a routine flight earlier this month.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which approves commercial rocket launches and evaluates accidents, said Thursday that it had determined that the Falcon 9’s in-orbit failure on July 11 “posed no public safety risk,” clearing the way for the rocket to quickly resume flight.

“This public safety determination means that the Falcon 9 aircraft may resume flight operations while the full investigation continues, provided all other licensing requirements are met,” the FAA said.

SpaceX has already revealed on its website that it plans to use its Falcon 9 rocket again on Saturday to launch a series of Starlink internet satellites.

If successful, SpaceX will be back on track with the mundane but vital task of launching astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX’s 10th spaceflight will be commissioned by NASA and is scheduled to launch in August, with NASA expected to provide an update on the mission today.

SpaceX is also planning to launch a historic private astronaut mission called Polaris Dawn, in which billionaire philanthropist Jared Isaacman and three other crew members will launch into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 and conduct the first-ever private spacewalk. The mission was scheduled to launch on July 31.

The Falcon 9 may be the smallest vehicle in SpaceX’s fleet, but it remains the cornerstone of the US rocket industry. As of 2024, it has already flown more than 60 missions, making it the most active rocket on the planet.

Just before the accident, on July 11, the Falcon 9 launched a constellation of Starlink satellites from California.

The first phase of the mission appeared to be going well, with the Falcon 9 hurtling toward space using its first stage booster (the nine engines at the bottom of the rocket that provide the initial burst of power at lift-off).

But the rocket’s second stage, which was designed to ignite after the first stage had fallen and carry the satellite to its final destination in orbit, suddenly malfunctioned.

SpaceX later revealed that the second stage rocket had an oxygen leak. (Liquid oxygen, or LOX, is commonly used as an oxidizer or propellant in rockets.) This resulted in what SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described as a “RUD” (for “rapid unplanned disintegration”), a phrase SpaceX often uses to refer to explosions.

Despite the accident, the satellite was launched successfully, but it was placed into a much lower orbit than planned, meaning that Earth’s gravity will likely quickly pull it out of space.

The FAA, which regularly oversees investigations after such accidents, reported in an email to CNN that “all debris from the anomaly has re-entered and there continue to be no reports of public injuries or damage to public property.”

SpaceX on July 15 asked the FAA to assess the threat to public safety, allowing the company to resume flights even before a more extensive investigation aimed at determining the “root cause” of the accident and identifying ways to fix the problem is completed.

in post SpaceX said on social media site “X,” formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday that it had submitted a report to the FAA regarding the “Falcon 9 launch anomaly, including the possible causes and associated corrective actions.”

The company cited the rocket’s extensive flight history as one of the reasons it has been “able to collect unprecedented levels of flight data and is prepared to resume flight quickly.”