SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is grounded after fiery landing failure
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket following a failed landing attempt during a recent Starlink mission. After successfully carrying the satellites into orbit on Wednesday, the first-stage booster returned to Earth and toppled into the Atlantic Ocean in a fireball shortly after touchdown, ending a streak of 267 successful landings.
The FAA has ordered an investigation into the failed touchdown. “The incident involved the failure of the Falcon 9 booster rocket while landing on a droneship at sea. No public injuries or public property damage have been reported,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters. “A return to flight of the Falcon 9 booster rocket is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the anomaly does not affect public safety.”
These investigations tend to wrap up fairly quickly, at least, with SpaceX responsible for conducting the probe itself and the FAA then assessing its findings. This is the second grounding for SpaceX this year after a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 booster caused a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” during another Starlink satellite delivery mission in July. The FAA permitted the Falcon 9 to be returned to flight just 15 days later.
Groundings for SpaceX workhorse rockets are rare, with the last one occurring in 2016 prior to the two incidents this year. According to SpaceX, the specific booster that failed on Wednesday was on its 23rd flight.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket following a failed landing attempt during a recent Starlink mission. After successfully carrying the satellites into orbit on Wednesday, the first-stage booster returned to Earth and toppled into the Atlantic Ocean in a fireball shortly after touchdown,…
Recent Posts
- Best Buy slashes up to $400 off Apple tech in a limited-time sale — get AirPods, MacBooks, iPads and Apple Watches from $99.99
- The Instagram Plus subscription has officially launched
- Cyberdecks used to look like little laptops, but now they’re getting more personal
- Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney announces questionable national AI strategy
- Kevin O’Leary agrees to downsize massive Utah data center
Archives
- June 2026
- May 2026
- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023