Falcon's Flight - Space-X-Rocket disintegrates and cannot start again for now
At a reliable Falcon-9 rocket of the company SpaceX, an issue has occurred. After hundreds of successful launches in the past few years, a rocket fell apart shortly after takeoff. The attempt to ignite a second stage of the Falcon-9 rocket in orbit failed, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk via the online platform X. This resulted in a "RUD," which stands for "rapid unscheduled disassembly," or rapid unplanned disintegration in English.
The rocket was supposed to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Thursday evening (local time) and deploy 20 Starlink internet satellites into orbit. About an hour after the launch, according to SpaceX, problems occurred with the engine. Due to this, the onboard Starlink satellites were placed in a lower orbit than planned, and there was a risk they could burn up in Earth's atmosphere. It's possible that these satellites didn't reach the necessary height due to the engine problems in space, Musk wrote further.
SpaceX is now trying to salvage the mission. So far, contact has been established with five of the 20 satellites, and their orbit will be influenced using their ion engines, the company wrote on Musk's short messaging service X. Musk added that SpaceX would update the software of the satellites to ignite their onboard engines more strongly than usual to prevent re-entry into the atmosphere. "This probably won't work like a Star Trek episode, but it's worth a try," Musk wrote.
Falcon 9 is grounded for now
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has temporarily grounded the Falcon 9 rocket. According to an FAA statement, the Falcon 9 will remain on the ground until SpaceX investigates the cause of the anomaly from Thursday, repairs the rocket, and receives a new FAA approval. This could take several weeks or months depending on the complexity of the problem with the rocket's engine.
A NASA spokesperson said that NASA is closely monitoring all Falcon 9 missions by SpaceX. "SpaceX has been very cooperative and is involving NASA in the ongoing investigation of the anomaly to understand the problem and find a way forward," the spokesperson said.
SpaceX has launched 344 rockets into space
With the failed mission of the world's most frequently used rocket type, SpaceX ends an impressive success series that secured the company a leading role in the industry. According to SpaceX statements, around 140 Falcon-9 rockets have been successfully launched by the company as of 2024, as reported by the "New York Times." This is the first time one of these rockets has fallen apart.
"We knew this incredible series had to end sometime, but 344 launches in a row is impressive," said Tom Mueller, former Vice President for Propulsion Systems, who designed the Falcon 9 rocket engines. He remained optimistic that the team would solve the problem and resume the cycle.
Many countries and space companies rely on the privately-run company to launch their satellites and astronauts into space. Industry experts value the company at around 200 billion dollars. The satellites in danger could be worth at least ten million dollars combined.
SpaceX, led by CEO Elon Musk, is currently investigating the cause of the anomaly that led to the Falcon-9 rocket's rapid unscheduled disassembly during a mission intended to deploy 20 Starlink internet satellites. Despite contact with five of the satellites, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has temporarily grounded the Falcon 9 rocket, requiring SpaceX to repair the rocket and obtain a new FAA approval before flights can resume. NASA is closely monitoring SpaceX's missions and is involved in the investigation to ensure the safe resumption of operations.
