SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s engine fails during satellite launch

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, pictured a day before launch last November at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photo / Washington Post

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket suffered an upper-stage engine failure yesterday after lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, a setback on a mission without astronauts on board that will likely delay upcoming human spaceflight launches while the company investigates what went wrong.

The problem occurred during the launch of a batch of Starlink satellites, used to beam the internet to ground stations and cellphones. The company said that since the “second stage engine did not complete its second burn” the satellites “were deployed into a lower than intended orbit.”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X that the engine failed “for reasons currently unknown. Team is reviewing data tonight to understand root cause.”

Upper stage restart to raise perigee resulted in an engine RUD for reasons currently unknown. Team is reviewing data tonight to understand root cause.

Starlink satellites were deployed, but the perigee may be too low for them to raise orbit. Will know more in a few hours.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2024

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would require an investigation that is “designed to further enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again. The FAA will be involved in every step of the investigation process and must approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions.”

It added that, “no public injuries or public property damage have been reported.”

Nasa relies on SpaceX and its fleet of Falcon 9 rockets to launch people as well as cargo to the International Space Station. The company was scheduled to launch a group of private citizens to orbit on July 31 in a mission funded by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman. Then, in mid-August, it was scheduled to fly three Nasa astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station for a six-month stay. Those missions will likely be postponed while SpaceX investigates the engine failure.

The Falcon 9 has been a reliable workhorse of a rocket that has upended the industry by launching frequently. Last year, SpaceX launched it nearly 100 times. The rocket is also reusable, flying back to a landing pad on the coast or to a ship at sea.

But it has had problems in the past. In 2016, a Falcon 9 exploded on its launchpad during an engine test. The year before, another Falcon 9 blew up as it was carrying cargo and supplies to the space station. No one was hurt in either failure and the FAA ultimately cleared the company to continue flying.

It was not immediately clear if the Starlink satellites launched yesterday would stay in orbit or fall back into the atmosphere. Musk wrote that the “satellites’ thrusters need to raise orbit faster than atmospheric drag pulls them down or they burn up”. The rocket’s first stage appeared to fly normally. It returned to Earth and landed on a ship at sea after separating from the second stage.