Yesterday, for the first time in three years, the return stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket experienced an accident during landing of the return stage. At the same time, the entire flight went smoothly – the satellites were delivered into orbit, and the stage itself landed as expected, but due to a problem with the landing gear, it tipped over at the moment of landing. For some reason, the accident forced the US Federal Aviation Administration to suspend all launches of the Falcon 9 rocket.
Image source: SpaceX
The agency says this is a normal response to flight anomalies. The Falcon 9 rocket was launched at 03:38 local time (10:38 Moscow time) from Cape Canaveral with the Starlink satellites on board. The booster stage launched the satellites into their target orbits, but the return stage, which had already flown into space 23 times, was not so lucky. The first stage with tail number B1062, while touching the deck of an unmanned platform in the ocean, overturned and continued to burn (it did not turn off the engine, or a fire occurred).
Eight years ago, returning a rocket to Earth for reuse was considered a miracle. Today the FAA has a legitimate question: “Why didn’t it land?”
«The FAA is aware of an anomaly that occurred during SpaceX’s Starlink Group 8-6 mission, which launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on August 28, the FAA said in a prepared statement. — The incident is related to the failure of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle when landing on an unmanned platform at sea. There were no reports of civilian casualties or damage to public property. The FAA demands an investigation.”
«The return of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle to flight is based on the FAA’s determination that any system, process or procedure associated with the anomaly should not affect public safety, the agency added. “In addition, SpaceX may need to request and receive FAA approval for a change to its license that includes any corrective actions and complies with all other licensing requirements.”
The halt in Falcon 9 rocket launches directly threatens the Polaris Dawn mission, which for various reasons has been delayed and was most recently postponed to August 30. This should be a historic flight of the Crew Dragon capsule over the Earth’s poles without visiting the ISS.