Rare Incident SpaceX's reliable Falcon 9 rocket faced an unusual anomaly during a mission to deploy Starlink internet satellites on Thursday night (July 11). Launch Sequence The Falcon 9 performed as planned initially, with its stages separating on schedule. The first stage successfully landed on a drone ship after liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Upper Stage Issue However, the rocket's upper stage, tasked with carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft into low Earth orbit, encountered a problem during its second burn. Engine Failure According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the upper stage experienced a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" (RUD) during an attempted restart to raise perigee, the point closest to Earth in an orbit. Satellite Deployment