“All Space X Falcon 9 flights – including the Space X Falcon 9 flights scheduled to be launched from the Cape and KSC – indefinitely grounded pending an FAA investigation, following an orbital mishap from a Vandenberg Falcon 9 launch yesterday. ” A friend.
From Elon Musk on X:
During tonight’s (Thursday, July 11) 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.
The team made contact with 10 of the satellites and attempted to have them raise orbit using their ion thrusters, but they are in an enormously high-drag environment with their perigee, or lowest point of their elliptical orbit, only 135 km above the Earth
Each pass through perigee removes 5+ km of altitude from the highest point in the satellite orbit. At this level of drag, our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites.
As such, the satellites will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise. They do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety. https://spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-9-3
hours
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.
FAA Grounds SpaceX Falcon 9 Rockets After Rare Launch Failure from Vandenberg Space Force Base
By
Space Coast Daily // July 12, 2024
KSC, CAPE CANAVERAL LAUNCHES NOW ON HOLD
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket suffered a rare failure from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday night as the rocket’s upper stage, which was launching 20 Starlink spacecraft to low Earth orbit, suffered a liquid oxygen leak, which had serious repercussions for the mission. (SpaceX image)
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, CALIFORNIA – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket suffered a rare failure from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday night as the rocket’s upper stage, which was launching 20 Starlink spacecraft to low Earth orbit, suffered a liquid oxygen leak, which had serious repercussions for the mission.
As a result of the launch anomaly, all SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches have been immediately grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center.
According to SpaceX, the workhorse Falcon 9 performed well initially as its two stages separated on time, and the first stage landed on a drone ship about eight minutes after liftoff.
“After a planned relight of the upper-stage engine to raise perigee — or the lowest point of orbit — the Merlin Vacuum engine experienced an anomaly and was unable to complete its second burn,” SpaceX officials said.
“Although the stage survived and still deployed the satellites, it did not successfully circularize its orbit, but it did passivate itself as normally performed at the end of each mission. This left the satellites in an eccentric orbit with a very low perigee of 135 km (84 miles), which is less than half the expected perigee altitude.”
The Falcon 9 is the most successful rockets flying, with 69 launches so far this year. Before Thursday’s launch, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket had suffered only one full in-flight failure in its history in June 2015 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
“SpaceX will perform a full investigation in coordination with the FAA, determine root cause, and make corrective actions to ensure the success of future missions,” said SpaceX officials.
“With a robust satellite and rocket production capability, and a high launch cadence, we’re positioned to rapidly recover and continue our pace as the world’s most active launch services provider.”
I will keep my ion them.
👁️
