SpaceX encountered its first in-flight failure of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2015 Thursday night, resulting in 20 Starlink satellites being deployed into a lower-than-intended orbit. The incident occurred during SpaceX’s 70th orbital launch of the year. The mission, designated Starlink 9-3, initially appeared to proceed without issue after lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday night at 7:35 p.m. PDT .
The trouble began during the second stage burn of the Falcon 9, where an unusual accumulation of ice was observed on and around the Merlin Vacuum engine, as captured by the rocket’s onboard cameras.
An additional one second burn of the second stage, intended to raise the satellite payload to a higher orbit, was scheduled to occur 52 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff. However, the malfunction prevented this critical maneuver, leaving the batch of 20 Starlink satellites in a perilously low orbit. Musk expressed uncertainty regarding the fate of the spacecraft: “Starlink satellites were deployed, but the perigee may be too low for them to raise orbit. Will know more in a few hours.”
About an hour after the satellites were deployed, SpaceX founder Elon Musk took to his social media platform X to share the troubling news. “Upper stage restart to raise perigee resulted in an engine RUD [Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly] for reasons currently unknown. Team is reviewing data tonight to understand the root cause,” Musk posted. A “RUD” is usually used as jargon referring to a breakup or explosion.
Salvage Effort Underway
Among the satellites affected, 13 were equipped with direct-to-cellphone capabilities. SpaceX reported making contact with five of the satellites and was attempting to use their onboard ion thrusters to raise their orbits. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who maintains a space flight database, estimated the satellites to be in a 295 by 138 km orbit, significantly lower than the intended 296 x 286 km deployment orbit.
Musk later updated the situation, explaining efforts to update the satellite software to operate the ion thrusters at their maximum capacity. “We’re updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9,” Musk said in a social media update. “Unlike a Star Trek episode, this will probably not work, but it’s worth a shot. The satellite thrusters need to raise orbit faster than atmospheric drag pulls them down or they burn up.”
Falcon 9 Failures Are Rare
The last in-flight failure of a Falcon 9 occurred on June 28, 2015, during a Dragon cargo resupply mission that ended 139 seconds into flight. Another notable failure involved a Falcon 9 explosion on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral during fueling operations for a pre-flight static test fire on September 1, 2016, which destroyed an Israeli communications satellite and caused extensive damage to Space Launch Complex 40.
The Falcon 9’s first stage booster for the Starlink 9-3 mission, tail number B1063, was on its 19th flight. This booster had previously launched NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, the Transporter-7 rideshare mission, and 13 batches of Starlink satellites.
SpaceX has maintained a rigorous launch schedule, completing over 90 launches last year and targeting 12 launches per month in 2024. Just last month, SpaceX achieved a reusable-rocket milestone by launching 23 Starlink satellites into orbit from Florida, marking the first time the company completed 22 launches and landings of the same booster.
Impact on SpaceX’s Launch Schedule
Typically, rockets are grounded for months after a failure as engineers work to identify the root cause and ensure the vehicle’s safety. It’s hard to know how this incident might effect future launches until the cause is determined. But SpaceX isn’t usually one to wait around, and will likely pour the company’s vast resources into determining the problem and fixing it quickly. Another issue entirely will be actions, if any, taken by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which licenses commercial launches.
The Falcon 9, SpaceX’s most prolific launch vehicle, has several key missions on the horizon, including plans to fly tech billionaire Jared Isaacman and three crewmates on a trip to orbit that is expected to feature the first-ever spacewalk conducted by private astronauts. Additionally, NASA relies on SpaceX for crewed missions to the International Space Station. The next such mission is planned for August, adding urgency to resolving the current technical issues.
Neither NASA nor the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which licenses commercial rocket launches, have provided immediate comments on the incident. Meanwhile, SpaceX continues its efforts to salvage the Starlink satellites and address the underlying cause of the failure to maintain its high launch cadence.
UPDATE: The FAA has now stated they will be investigating the incident.
