Meghna Barik, Pune
Following a second stage malfunction on Saturday during a NASA astronaut mission the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket. The workhorse rocket’s second-stage deorbit burn failure led to its third grounding in three months. As part of NASAs mission SpaceX successfully launched two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) ,on Sunday the crew docked at the ISS as scheduled.
The rocket’s second stage, which was supposed to dump the booster into the ocean once the crew had safely reached their destination, did not properly relight its engine. The booster landed outside the FAA-designated safety zone in an unapproved area of the Pacific Ocean as a result of the mishap. According to the FAA the incident did not result in any injuries or property damage.
The second stage landed safely in the ocean but outside of the targeted area SpaceX said in an announcement acknowledging the error. The company promised that once the problems underlying cause were identified, launches would resume. The Falcon 9 which has long served as SpaceXs flagship rocket has now experienced three groundings in as many months.
SpaceX suffered its first mission failure in more than seven years in July when a second-stage problem blew a group of Starlink satellites off course. Another problem with the first stage of the Falcon 9 happened in August but it had no effect on the mission’s outcome. In 2024 SpaceX is expected to launch two to three rockets on average each week maintaining an impressive launch cadence despite these setbacks.
SpaceXs capacity to surpass its competitors in the launch sector is largely due to the reusable nature of the Falcon 9s first stage but the second stage is not. Under FAA supervision SpaceX is expected to request permission from the agency to resume Falcon 9 launches while it looks into the underlying cause of the issue.
This incident comes amid tensions between SpaceX and the FAA over licensing regulations and fines imposed for prior violations. SpaceXs next-generation Starship rocket system is still being tested independently and is unaffected by the grounding of Falcon 9.