SpaceX Falcon 9 Suffers In Flight Engine Failure, Starlink Payloads Lost

SpaceX has experienced its first in-flight failure of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2015, potentially resulting in the loss of a batch of Starlink satellites and raising concerns across the space industry.

The failure occurred during SpaceX’s 70th orbital launch of the 2024, designated Starlink 9-3. The mission began promisingly with a liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 11, 2024 at 7:35 p.m. PDT (10:35 p.m. EDT, 0235 UTC). However, issues arose during the burn of the Falcon 9’s second stage when an unusual amount of ice was observed accumulating around the Merlin Vacuum engine in camera views from the rocket.

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A planned one-second burn of the second stage, intended to circularize the orbit, was supposed to occur 52 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff.

Approximately an hour after the expected time of satellite deployment, Musk released a statement.

“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 root cause. Starlink satellites were deployed, but the perigee may be too low for them to raise orbit. Will know more in a few hours.” - Elon Musk

An hour later SpaceX released an update.

"During tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink, the second stage engine did not complete its second burn. As a result, the Starlink satellites were deployed into a lower than intended orbit. SpaceX has made contact with 5 of the satellites so far and is attempting to have them raise orbit using their ion thrusters." - SpaceX Statement

On board were 20 Starlink satellites; 13 direct-to-cellphone satellites, and 7 v2 mini satellites. The satellites are believed to have been released into a approximate orbit of 295 km by 138 km, instead of the intended deployment orbit of 296 km by 286 km.

Musk provided further updates on the situation: “We’re updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9. 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.”

This incident marks the first failure, whether partial or total, for a Falcon 9 since a September 2016 when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral during fueling operations for a pre-flight static test fire, resulting in the destruction of an Israeli communications satellite and extensive damage to Space Launch Complex 40. The last in-flight failure occurred in June 2015, when the upper stage broke apart during the launch of a cargo Dragon spacecraft.

Since then, the Falcon 9 has achieved a remarkable record of success. This launch was the 354th for the Falcon 9, since the June 2015 in-flight failure.

The global space industry has increasingly relied on the Falcon 9 for access to space, thanks to its high flight rate and the challenges in developing new launch vehicles. Various countries and companies, including competitors to SpaceX's Starlink constellation and European government organizations, have turned to the Falcon 9 for launching spacecraft.

The anomaly may carry implications for human spaceflight. The Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft at the end of July on the Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission, followed in mid-August by the Crew-9 mission to deliver four astronauts to the International Space Station for a six-month stay.

NASA has relied heavily on SpaceX for ISS access due to delays and issues with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.

As the investigation into the engine malfunction continues, the space industry watches closely, understanding that the results could have significant impacts on upcoming missions and the broader landscape of space exploration.