(Washington) Grounded since a failed mission, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, crucial to the American space sector, will be able to fly again, the United States aviation regulator announced Thursday.
In July, a Falcon 9 launcher failed to place 20 satellites into orbit as planned after an anomaly on its second stage.
Rockets of this type carry out resupply missions to the International Space Station for NASA, and also regularly transport astronauts there. They are also capable of placing satellites into orbit.
“During the first ignition of the Falcon 9 second stage engine, a liquid oxygen leak occurred in the insulation around the upper stage engine,” Elon Musk’s company explained in a statement.
“The cause of the leak has been identified as a crack in a sensing line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle’s oxygen system,” the same source added.
After an investigation, the US aviation regulator (FAA) said it had determined that “no public safety concerns were related to the anomaly” and that the Falcon 9 launcher “could resume flight operations” while the investigation continues.
Incidents involving this rocket, considered very reliable, are rare. Before July, the last one was in September 2016, when a Falcon 9 launcher exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral.
In June 2015, the second stage of one of these rockets disintegrated two minutes after takeoff, during a resupply mission to the ISS.
The failure of the Falcon 9 mission in July came after two astronauts from the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft had been aboard the International Space Station for several weeks, due to problems with the capsule’s propulsion system that led NASA to delay their departure for testing.
PHOTO PATRICK T. FALLON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The failure of the Falcon 9 mission in July came after two astronauts from the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft had been aboard the International Space Station for several weeks.
With the resumption of Falcon 9 flights, the next resupply mission to the orbital laboratory scheduled for early August will be able to take place using a cargo ship.