Update 5:20 a.m. ET: SpaceX has canceled the Starlink 9-5 launch from Vandenberg Spaceport to allow more time to review data from the B1062 landing failure.
For the first time in more than three years, SpaceX lost one of its Falcon 9 reusable boosters during a landing attempt as part of its Starlink 8-6 mission Wednesday morning. As it touched down on a drone ship, a “zero gravity” green flash could be seen around the Merlin engines before the engine section caught fire and the booster fell and exploded.
While recovering the booster is a secondary part of the mission compared to deploying 21 Starlink satellites, SpaceX’s business model is based on the reusability of its first-stage boosters. Whatever the problem that ultimately led to the booster’s demise, tail number B1062 broke a streak of 267 successful booster landings.
After sending 21 Starlink satellites into orbit, Falcon 9 booster 1062, on its 23rd flight, flipped and exploded while landing on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” It was the first Falcon 9 landing failure since February 2021. Watch a live replay of the landing incident. pic.twitter.com/Dquqk2DL2R
— SpaceflightNow (@SpaceflightNow) August 28, 2024
Prior to the August 28 incident, the last failure occurred on February 16, 2021, when the B1059 booster rocket died during the Starlink 19 v1.0 mission. That landing attempt was with SpaceX’s “Of Course I Still Love You” drone ship.
SpaceX has decided to move forward with the launch of Starlink Mission 8-6 after weather concerns delayed the launch of four astronauts on the Polaris Dawn mission. The company said it will launch successive batches of Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rockets from Cape Canaveral Space Station and Vandenberg Space Base on Wednesday morning.
Starlink Mission 8-6 was the first to lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at 3:48 a.m. EDT (0748 GMT). It was scheduled to be followed by Starlink Mission 9-5 from VSFB, but SpaceX has decided to delay that for now “to give the team time to review the booster landing data.”
The B1062 flight set a record for a booster launch Wednesday morning, making it SpaceX’s flagship. It has previously supported the launch of two GPS satellites, two astronaut missions (Inspiration4 and Axiom Mission 1) and 15 Starlink flights.
The problem occurred about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, when B1062 attempted to land on ASOG. This was supposed to be the 342nd time a booster had landed so far.
The flight carried 21 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities. The successful deployment brings the total number of Starlink satellites SpaceX has launched to date to 155.
During its mission, astronauts on the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission will conduct an on-orbit demonstration of Starlink connectivity, and mission commander Jared Isaacman told Spaceflight Now in July that this will be a good starting point to help push space-based communications forward.
“There’s only limited capacity on TDRSS[Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System]satellites,” Isaacman said. “There aren’t many ground stations. They’re also needed. And if you can build a constellation, not just in low Earth orbit, but in lunar orbit, you can transmit very efficiently over laser links.” “It’s a good step in that direction, and SpaceX is already moving in that direction by offering these laser links on Starlink to other providers. So it’s really great for all of commercial space.”
The Polaris Dawn spacecraft is now scheduled to launch no earlier than Friday, August 30, after weather conditions predicted for its planned return from space pushed the launch date back to Wednesday.
Our launch parameters are severely limited by the weather conditions expected for landing on the station. With no rendezvous point with the ISS and limited life support, we have to be absolutely certain of the conditions for re-entry into the station before launch. So far, conditions are not favorable tonight or tomorrow, so… https://t.co/Zpd3pY5kNF
– Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) August 28, 2024
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