FAA Launches Investigation Into Falcon 9’s Missed Splashdown After Crew-9 Launch
- by Gizmodo
- Oct 02, 2024
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As a result, the company said it would pause the launches of Falcon 9 until it can identify the root cause behind the anomaly. The SpaceX investigation will be overseen by the FAA. “No public injuries or public property damage have been reported,” the FAA wrote in its statement. “The FAA is requiring an investigation.” With the rocket grounded indefinitely, it’s not clear whether it will be able to launch the European Space Agency’s Hera mission on October 7.
This is the third time the normally reliable Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded in less than three months. In July, the rocket was unable to deliver its payload of satellites to orbit due to an upper stage malfunction. The incident grounded the rocket until an investigation into the failed flight concluded around two weeks later, pinpointing an oxygen leak as the reason behind the engine malfunction. A little over a month later, the rocket’s booster returned to Earth to perform a landing on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean after delivering 21 Starlink satellites to orbit when it toppled over once it reached the droneship and broke apart, igniting a large fire. The incident prompted the FAA to ground the rocket but Falcon 9 was back to launching Starlink satellites three days later.
It’s rather unusual for Falcon 9 to experience this many anomalies over a short period of time. Since its debut in 2010, the 135-foot-high (41 meters) rocket has performed more than 350 missions. As one of the hardest working rockets in the industry, government agencies and private companies alike rely on Falcon 9 to deliver their payloads to space. The rocket being grounded puts a strain on the growing spaceflight industry, which is in desperate need of more vehicles that can regularly launch to orbit.
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