The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket for the third time in three months following a malfunction during a recent NASA astronaut mission.
On Saturday, SpaceX launched two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), but the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket failed to properly re-light its engine for the routine \"deorbit burn,\" which is designed to safely discard the booster into the ocean after flight.
Despite the booster malfunctioning and falling outside the designated safety zone in the Pacific Ocean, the astronaut crew arrived at the ISS safely on Sunday. The FAA confirmed there were no injuries or property damage related to the incident.
SpaceX acknowledged the issue, stating, \"The booster experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn. As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area.\" The company has paused launches until the root cause is identified.
This grounding marks the third in three months, with previous incidents occurring in July and August. The July grounding was due to a second-stage issue that affected SpaceX-built Starlink satellites, while the August incident involved a first-stage landing failure that did not impact mission success.
SpaceX is expected to seek FAA approval to resume flights once their investigation concludes, under FAA oversight. The two entities have recently had tensions over launch licensing regulations and fines imposed by the FAA for alleged violations in 2023.
Since early 2024, SpaceX has been launching an average of two to three rockets weekly. While the Falcon 9's first stage is reusable, the second stage remains expendable.
Reference(s):
U.S. grounds SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket for a third time in three months
cgtn.com
