SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Rocket Catches Fire During Rare Fumbled Landing

In a uncommon mishap, SpaceX’s workhorse rocket tipped implicit connected the landing pad and went up successful flames, ending a stellar streak of touchdowns.

Falcon 9 launched connected Wednesday astatine 3:48 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40. The rocket’s precocious signifier delivered 21 Starlink satellites to orbit, portion the booster returned to Earth to execute a landing connected a droneship successful the Atlantic Ocean. Although the booster’s descent went smoothly, it toppled implicit erstwhile it reached the droneship and broke apart, igniting a ample fire.

“After a palmy ascent, Falcon 9’s archetypal signifier booster tipped implicit pursuing touchdown connected the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship,” SpaceX wrote connected X. “Teams are assessing the booster’s formation information and status.”

Wednesday’s motorboat marked the booster’s 23rd formation and the 82nd liftoff for the Falcon 9 rocket successful 2024 alone. The landing mishap ends a streak of 267 palmy touchdowns and booster recoveries since February 2021. Its erstwhile landing malfunction was owed to a spread successful an motor cover, which allowed for exhaust to participate and harm the engine, causing the booster to fumble its descent.

Falcon 9 is the industry’s hardest moving motorboat vehicle, though its caller tumble marks the rocket’s 2nd mishap successful little than 2 months. In July, the rocket was incapable to present its payload of satellites to orbit owed to an upper signifier malfunction. The incidental grounded the rocket until an investigation into the failed formation concluded astir 2 weeks later, pinpointing an oxygen leak arsenic the crushed down the motor malfunction.

The trusty medium-lift rocket has participated successful much than 350 missions since its debut successful 2010. SpaceX is aiming for a record-breaking 148 launches of its Falcon 9 rocket this year, topping the 98 missions of 2023. Falcon 9’s erstwhile malfunction took spot successful September 2016, erstwhile the rocket exploded portion inactive connected the motorboat pad.

The 135-foot-high (41 meters) rocket is susceptible of lifting up to 50,300 pounds (22,800 kilograms) of payload into low-Earth orbit. Falcon 9 has consistently provided abstraction agencies and backstage companies with reliable entree to space, and the rocket has a packed docket for the remainder of the year.

SpaceX is acceptable to launch billionaire abstraction enthusiast Jared Isaacman connected backstage ngo Polaris Dawn. The ngo was scheduled for liftoff connected Wednesday morning, but was delayed to nary earlier than Friday owed to unfavorable weather. The ngo includes the archetypal effort astatine a spacewalk by a backstage crew.

More: Another Blow to Boeing: NASA Says SpaceX Will Bring Starliner Astronauts Home From ISS