Initially, SpaceX’s Falcon 9, recognized as one of the most reliable launch vehicles, faced an unusual setback. During a routine mission to deploy Starlink constellation satellites Thursday night, the rocket’s second stage experienced a significant failure on orbit . This unexpected problem occurred just as the final ignition of the Merlin vacuum engine on the second stage was being attempted, resulting in a catastrophic failure known as a “RUD” – rapid unscheduled disassembly – a term that in the aerospace industry usually indicates an explosion.
Elon Musk reports incorrect orbit
On the other hand, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, explained on his X platform that, although the 20 Starlink satellites deployed, they did so in an incorrect orbit, and it was uncertain whether they could correct their trajectory in time to avoid being pulled back into the Earth’s atmosphere.
It was uncertain whether they would be able to correct their trajectory in time to avoid being pulled back into the Earth’s atmosphere. Musk detailed that a failure to restart the upper stage, which was to raise the perigee, occurred for reasons as yet unknown, and the technical team was analyzing the data to determine the exact cause.
About the mission, Starlink 9-3 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 19:35 PST. During the launch, the cameras captured the usual accumulation of ice on the top of the engine, followed by the fall of large lumps in the exhaust plume, which could indicate a possible leak of liquid oxygen, a component of the propellant along with kerosene. The precise cause of the failure is still under investigation.
SpaceX Falcon 9 Incident Affects Starlink Mission
Eventually, SpaceX managed to establish contact with five of the 20 deployed satellites, instructing them to adjust their orbits using ion thrusters. Musk added at X that engineers were upgrading the satellites’ software to maximize thruster efficiency, although he admitted that the chances of success were uncertain.
This incident interrupted a series of 335 successful launches of the Falcon family, including the most powerful Falcon Heavy. The last significant failure in the series occurred in 2016, and the last time a flight failed was in 2015. The FAA has launched an investigation into this incident, which could impact future manned launches, including the Polaris Dawn mission and an astronaut transport for NASA.
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Source and photo: techcrunch