(Washington) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, crucial to the U.S. space industry, are grounded pending an investigation after one of them suffered a rare mission failure that failed to place satellites into orbit as planned, the company said Friday.
A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Thursday night to place 20 of the group’s Starlink satellites into orbit, which were to join its constellation providing internet from space.
The first stage of the rocket functioned normally, and after fulfilling its function it detached as planned and returned to Earth. But the second stage, which continued on its way, experienced a “liquid oxygen leak,” according to a statement from billionaire Elon Musk’s company.
Since the craft was unable to perform one of the planned thrusts, the satellites were released into an orbit with a perigee (the point closest to Earth) twice as low as planned, at an altitude of 135 km.
SpaceX teams attempted to contact the satellites to command them to use their own propulsion to rise, but the Earth’s gravity proved too strong at that altitude.
“The satellites will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and disappear completely,” the company said. “They do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety.”
The US aviation regulator (FAA) has announced that it is calling for an investigation, which will determine the cause of the incident and identify corrective actions. A final report will have to be approved by the FAA.
“The resumption of flights” is conditioned on “the FAA’s determination that any system or procedure related to the accident does not affect public safety,” she said.
Some missions planned for the near future could therefore be delayed.
The Falcon 9 rocket carries out resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA, and also regularly transports astronauts there.
The next resupply mission is scheduled for early August.
Incidents on this rocket, considered very reliable, are rare. SpaceX recalled having successfully launched 364 Falcon rockets.
A Falcon 9 exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral in 2016 while filling its tanks for a ground test. The spectacular explosion caused no injuries but destroyed the launcher.
The accident occurred fifteen months after the first explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket shortly after takeoff from Florida, during the launch of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) for a resupply mission.