The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has temporarily halted SpaceX Falcon 9 launches to evaluate potential public safety risks following the unsuccessful landing of a booster on August 28.
On that day, a Falcon 9 booster attempted to land on a droneship after successfully deploying 21 Starlink satellites into orbit. However, upon touchdown, flames erupted at the base of the booster, causing it to tip over moments later.
The incident did not result in any injuries or damage apart from the loss of the booster, and probably some damages to the autonomous sea platform owned by the company, but the FAA is now requiring a thorough investigation.
The Federal Agency clarified that this investigation will, for the moment, prevent SpaceX from conducting further launches.
This is not the first time the FAA has paused Falcon 9 launches and, notably, the previous time was less than two months ago. A similar situation occurred after an upper stage engine failure during a Starlink mission on July 11. In that case, SpaceX was permitted to resume launches two weeks later after receiving a public safety determination from the FAA.
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The investigation process and what we know
In an official statement, the FAA emphasized that resuming Falcon 9 launches hinges on the agency’s assessment that any issues related to the anomaly do not compromise public safety. The statement also noted that SpaceX might need to obtain FAA approval to modify its license if corrective actions are required, and all other licensing requirements must be met.
Notably, the investigation doesn’t need to be fully completed for SpaceX to resume operations. The FAA’s guidelines allow launch vehicle operators to request a “public safety determination” if the incident did not involve safety-critical systems or pose a risk to public safety. If the FAA grants this determination, launches can continue even as the investigation proceeds.
SpaceX has yet to provide further details regarding the incident. However, Jon Edwards, Vice President of Falcon Launch Vehicles at SpaceX, mentioned on X that the company is diligently working to understand the root cause and implement corrective measures. “One thing we do know though is this was purely a recovery issue and posed no threat to primary mission or public safety,” Edwards wrote.
Kiko Dontchev, Vice President of Launch at SpaceX, also commented the event in a X post:
@edwards345 said it best.
— Kiko Dontchev (@TurkeyBeaver) August 28, 2024
Challenging week for sure, but launch takes #grit and the team will persevere. Lessons learned from recovery failures will not only improve recovery reliability, but also ascent reliability. https://t.co/OHuypFrdap
It is difficult to foresee a timeline for Falcon 9 launches to resume. The cause of the booster loss will be the primary driving factor. If the failure is related to the landing legs (one of them can be seen collapsing), the issue might be resolved quickly, as it doesn’t affect other flight phases. Conversely, if the legs collapsing is just a consequence of something more serious, like an engine malfunction, it could require a more extensive investigation.
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A booster with a story: the fleet leader
It should be noted that this specific booster, designated B1062, was at its 23rd flight to space and back, and it was at the time of the launch, the Falcon fleet leader. This booster was kind of special, having supported several key missions in its career, both for cargo and crewed launches.
GPS III Space Vehicle 04 was its first launch, followed by GPS III Space Vehicle 05, two missions dedicated to US satellites position system.
The same booster then flew two crewed mission, Inspiration4, SpaceX’s first all-commercial mission to orbit, and Axiom-1, the first Axiom mission to the International Space Station. Nilesat 301, OneWeb Launch 17, ARABSAT BADR-8, and a staggering number of 16 Starlink missions then followed on its history.
Should the root cause be related to the landing legs, SpaceX might already have the solution incorporated into its newest vehicles. Starting with the booster B1080, first launched in May 2023, the company made changes to the landing legs structures and mechanisms, learning from lessons of previous boosters and post-landing inspections.
The previous booster landing failure occurred 268 attempts ago during the Starlink v1.0-19 mission, back in February 2021.
The booster was B1059, which was on its 6th flight at that time. It missed its landing attempt due a Merlin engine boot that developed a hole. That hole allowed hot gas to escape, causing the engine to shut down during the first stage flight, near the moment of main engine cutoff.
The primary mission was successful due to the multi-engine out capability of the Falcon 9, but the engine shutdown led to insufficient thrust for a successful landing.
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A crew of four is waiting in quarantine
The FAA’s current decision to suspend launches has already impacted upcoming missions, including the Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission. SpaceX postponed this mission just hours before the Starlink launch due to unfavorable weather conditions predicted for splashdown sites off Florida’s coast.
While SpaceX had indicated it wouldn’t pursue launch opportunities on August 28 or 29, no further updates have been provided by the company since the landing failure.
Jared Isaacman, the billionaire commander of Polaris Dawn, explained the decision to delay by addressing the weather criteria: “Our launch criteria are heavily constrained by forecasted splashdown weather conditions. With no ISS rendezvous and limited life support consumables, we must be absolutely sure of reentry weather before launching.”
Isaacman also commented on the failure and the FAA’s investigation halting launches, noting: “We’re just focused on recovery weather at this point. I think that is still gate to our launch.”
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