The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded all SpaceX launches after a Falcon 9 booster collapsed into flames upon landing early Wednesday morning.
The Falcon 9, which took off the coast of Florida from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, was launched as part of a mission to deliver more satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which provides internet from orbit.
The launch began according to plan with the upper stage separated from the large first stage booster rocket, and the booster began to return to Earth where it was scheduled to land on an uncrewed drone ship.
However, moments after the Falcon 9 successfully deployed the 21 Starlink satellites into orbit, the first-stage booster fell over in a fireball after landing on an ocean-based landing platform. The booster, which had already set a record with 23 launches, was lost in the accident.
Newsweek reached out to the FAA and SpaceX via email on Wednesday for comment.
The mishap has since prompted an immediate investigation by federal authorities, and the FAA has mandated that the company complete a thorough investigation and implement corrective measures before any further launches can proceed.
“An investigation is designed to further enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again,” the FAA said.
The FAA’s decision to ground the Falcon 9 fleet is expected to cause significant delays, particularly for two high-profile crewed missions on the horizon. One of these is a private flight booked by and funded by internet entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, which was already delayed earlier in the day due to poor weather. The flight is set to conduct the world’s first commercial spacewalk.
The other is a crucial NASA mission scheduled for late next month involving two astronauts who previously flew aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule. NASA has deemed the Starliner unsafe for their return, adding urgency to the upcoming SpaceX mission.
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who spent the entire summer in space, were initially scheduled to return to Earth on June 14. However, their mission faced a critical setback when the capsule developed leaks and some of its thrusters malfunctioned. As ground teams work to identify the cause of these issues, their homecoming has been repeatedly delayed.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time the Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded in recent months. The FAA grounded the rocket on July 12, after its second stage failed to relight properly during another Starlink launch. That grounding lasted around two weeks.
