SpaceX is cleared to launch Falcon 9 rocket after failure; investigation continues

The rocket Falcon 9 from the SpaceX — the world’s most prolific launch vehicle — is ready to return to flight after suffering a failure during a routine trip earlier this month.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches and evaluates accidents, said Thursday that it determined there were “no public safety issues” involved when the Falcon 9 failed in orbit on July 11, clearing the way for the rocket’s rapid return to flight.

“This public safety determination means that the Falcon 9 vehicle may return to flight operations while the general investigation remains open, as long as all other permit requirements are met,” according to the FAA.

On its website, SpaceX has already revealed that it will put the Falcon 9 back to work on Saturday (27), launching a batch of internet satellites Starlink.

The approval to resume Falcon 9 launches also means SpaceX is back on track to return to its routine but crucial work of launching astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX’s 10th trip – carried out in the name of NASA – is scheduled to take place in August.

This mission is called Crew-9, and NASA said, this Friday (26), that it is on track to be launched, but “not before” August 18. “We have been following step by step the investigation that the FAA has been doing,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager. “SpaceX has been very transparent.”

Stich added that Crew-9 will be launched after the completion of the spacecraft’s inaugural crewed test flight. Boeing Starliner. This vehicle has been on the ISS for weeks, which is longer than expected, while ground teams work to understand problems that affected the first stage of its flight.

SpaceX also has plans to launch a history-making private astronaut mission called Polaris Dawn, which will send billionaire and philanthropist Jared Isaacman and three crew members to orbit aboard a Falcon 9 to conduct the first spacewalk by private citizens.

That mission was scheduled to take place later this month, but is now scheduled for “late summer” in the Northern Hemisphere, or August, Sarah Walker, director of Dragon mission management at SpaceX, said on Friday.

What happened to Falcão 9

The Falcon 9, which is the smallest vehicle in SpaceX’s rocket fleet, is the linchpin of the US rocket industry. In 2024, it carried out more than 60 missions. No other rocket comes close to being as active.

A Falcon 9 launched a group of Starlink satellites out of California on July 11, shortly before the accident occurred.

The first stage of the mission appeared to proceed smoothly, with the Falcon 9 using its first stage booster – the lower part of the rocket with nine engines that provide the initial burst of power at liftoff – to propel itself toward space.

But the rocket’s second stage, which was designed to fire after the first stage crashes and carry the satellites to their final destination in orbit, suddenly failed.

SpaceX later revealed that there was an oxygen leak in that second stage. (Liquid oxygen or LOX is commonly used as an oxidizer or propellant for rockets.) This led to what SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described as a “RUD” — or “unscheduled rapid disassembly,” a phrase that SpaceX typically uses to refer to an explosion.

Despite the accident, the satellites were deployed safely, Walker said. The rocket detected an engine problem, she said, and deployed the satellites. But they were placed in a much lower orbit than intended, meaning they would likely be dragged out of space by Earth’s gravity very quickly.

The FAA, which routinely oversees investigations after such accidents, told CNN in an email that found that “all debris from the anomaly has been controlled and there continue to be no reports of public injuries or damage to public property.”

SpaceX asked the FAA on July 15 to assess the threat to public safety, allowing the company to return to flight even though the broader investigation — which aims to identify the “root cause” of the accident and identify how to fix the problem — is not complete. complete.

In a post on X (the old Twitter), SpaceX indicated that it already understood this root cause.

Walker also explained on Friday that SpaceX determined the leak was caused by a crack in a line connected to a pressure sensor, which had suffered some wear due to engine vibrations and the fact that a clamp that was supposed to secure it was damaged. it had come loose. The oxygen leak caused “excessive cooling” of engine parts, which left the rocket without enough fuel to burn properly, Walker said.

Walker said the problem would not have occurred on a SpaceX mission carrying NASA astronauts because those missions have a different flight profile. But SpaceX doesn’t plan to “assume the problem is isolated,” Walker added, noting that’s why SpaceX still audited the entire system.

The company cited the rocket’s extensive flight history as one of the reasons the company is “able to gather unprecedented levels of flight data and is ready to quickly return to flight.”

SpaceX will build a vehicle to take the International Space Station out of orbit