Not everything went according to plan during the latest mission to deliver more Starlink satellites into Earth orbit. SpaceX lost the lower stage of its Falcon 9 rocket, which burst into flames. The incident is shown in the video.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a batch of 21 Starlink telecommunications satellites into Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday. Their constellation is intended to provide broadband internet access anywhere on Earth.
The payload was delivered, but not everything went well. Immediately after the first stage of the rocket landed on the deck of the barge A Shortfall of Gravitas, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, it overturned. There was an explosion. The booster fell overboard of the unmanned landing pad into the water. This moment can be seen in the recording below, from the flight transmission.
Falcon 9 rocket's lower stage capsized and explodedENEX/SpaceX
SpaceX Lost Lower Stage of Rocket
The Falcon 9, which is powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene, is the only rocket whose first stage can land and be reused. The accident ended a streak of 267 consecutive successful booster landings that stretched from February 2021. It was the 23rd launch and landing for the first segment, called B1062, a record.
The cause of the incident is not yet known. SpaceX announced on the X portal that the next Falcon 9 launch with Starlinks on board has been canceled. It was scheduled for Thursday in California.
Polaris Dawn Launch Cancelled Again
This is yet another failure for billionaire Elon Musk's company that day. Once again the launch of the Polaris Dawn mission has been postponedwhich is to feature the first-ever commercial spacewalk. This time, the plans were thwarted by difficult weather conditions.
The mission was originally scheduled to launch on Monday, but engineers decided to delay it by a day to conduct additional tests. Another problem was noted on the night from Monday to Tuesday, when a helium leak was detected in the launch system.
Main image source: ENEX/SpaceX