SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket grounded after Starlink satellites lost in launch failure
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- For the first time since 2016, SpaceX is unable to launch its workhorse launch vehicle, the Falcon 9 rocket. During the Starlink 9-3 mission, which launched on July 11, 2024, from Vandenberg Space Force Base, the rocket's upper stage suffered a liquid oxygen leak. That prevented a key second burn of the Merlin Vacuum engine, causing the company to lose all 20 Starlink satellites due to deployment at a low altitude.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is requiring an investigation before the rocket is allowed to fly again. With the Crew-9 and Polaris Dawn astronaut missions previously scheduled to launch in August, NASA and other customers are closely watching the progress of the mishap investigation and when SpaceX will be approved to launch the Falcon 9 once again.
Spaceflight Now Reporter Will Robinson-Smith spoke astrophysicist and expert orbital tracker Johnathan McDowell about Falcon 9's issue and what the near term future for SpaceX may hold.
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It's been an amazing run.
Stuff happens.
This will be resolved.
More missions to come.
It's crazy to think that a leak on stage two is such big news, a nod to just how routine F9 launches have become to us.
It's a heck of a lot better than the record of The Space Shuttle.
This is what makes some of the comments by FAA and NASA so infuriating. SpaceX is already miles ahead in safety and reliability than anything that has gone before.
@@craigsheffield6546 oranges do look different from apples.
@@TheMoneypresident SpaceX took over for The Space Shuttle.
Proud of Falcon! They have been the most reliable.
This really wasn't a terrible outcome though, it was with their own payload and they have a lot of data to go in in addressing the issue in the future. Hopefully the insurance rate isnt hit too hard
Even with this failure, Falcon remains unmatched in terms of reliability. It’s only going to get better after the lessons learned from this. Hoping SpaceX and the FAA get this global workhorse back on the pad soon.
I fully agree but the timing is bad. While the Falcon 9 is grounded, we can't send crew to the space station. Moreover, the Polaris Dawn mission is now on hold too. Since Falcon Heavy uses the same upper stage, this might impact the Europa Clipper mission as well. Best of luck to the SpaceX team on working the problem.
@@paulcontursi5982 true.
Europa clipper itself had a big problem pop up as well…
Launching as much as they do= problems happen, rocket science is hard.
The very fact that you need a five mile exclusion zone around space rockets before any launch tells you all you need to know about how dangerous space is. If you wish to go to space you must be willing to assume the risks.
Hopefully a fast easy fix.
I remember Will calling attention to the extra "frost" during the views of the second stage...
The problem lies in the second stage system, not the reusable booster, so, that's something...
Of course I still love you~
Excellent analysis. Thanks, Will and Jonathan McDowell. Hopefully this is resolved quickly, and we get back to Falcon 9 launches soon! ❤
Falcon 9!
Great interview. I'm looking forward to hearing what the root cause and ultimate fix will be. I have total confidence in SpaceX's ability to sort these things out. I'm fairly certain that this isn't a design fault or this would have reared it's ugly head sooner... more likely IMHO, what Jonathan alluded to in the interview... maybe trying to go too hard, too fast, scheduling pressure. We shall see
hopefully then can narrow down where and why this oxygen leak occurred to get it resolved quickly
I think "Billy" from "Young Sheldon" was working on the second stage..... 😂😂🤣🤣
Thanks so much for the update SFN. ❤
Watching this video just one month after it was uploaded and Falcon 9 is already back in service LOL!! Their return-to-launch was on July 27, just FIFTEEN DAYS after the mishap. That is insane. They've already launched ELEVEN missions since then, including four for external paying customers - Maxar, Space Norway, multiple customers for Transporter 11, and a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. This would have sounded like science fiction just a decade ago.
It wasn't just frost, there was a liquid streaming down one side. It looked like an oxygen leak.
Bummer!
Thanks Will! You never fail to keep us in the know! Appreciate you!
A well round analysis, thanks to SFN and Jonathan McDowell 👍
I have more faith in SpaceX than I do in Boeing.
I have faith in Boeing , statically they’re safer than rockets.
While Starlink is now 300-1
Boeing aircraft number in the thousands and their record these days is 10,000 better.
@@jimrenner9401 You're talking apples 'n aircraft. No one cares about a 737's safety record when you're stuck up on the ISS because your Boeing bucket broke.
I was a maintenance QC Inspector for a U.S. Major Air carrier for 2+ decades. Every bit of maintenance on U.S, commercial aircraft is regulated and given oversight by the FAA. With the Airline I'd worked for, we were required to take yearly recurrent training on the causes of faulty maintenance and also to refresh on the FAR's (Federal Aviation Regulations), governing our Inspection criteria. That and were trained recurrently on Maintenance Resource Management, IOW, where & how to look for the correct info needed for installation, testing & operation of the maint item.
In Aviation, it's a fact that most maintenance errors are caused by Distraction. Some event took place that took the Mechanic out of their routine, and when the returned to complete the job a step gets missed, such as tightening a "B" nut on a fluid supply line. Distraction accounts for around 90% of maintenance errors w/ improper procedures causing around 3% of maint errors and lastly followed by faulty parts from a vendor.
I'm guessing that somebody in SpaceX's Oxygen line installation dept has some Splainin to do ! 🤔
Was not a "launch failure".
Yes it was, the rocket failed to get the payloads to a usable orbit, that is nothing but a failure. Some are trying to argue that it is a partial failure but that would only be the case is the payloads were able to recover and raise orbit but this was not possible.
This was absolutely a launch failure.
@@HowToSpacic was definately not a launch failure, the launch was fine
@@Mike88GTdoesnt a rocket launch refer to the entire process of getting a spacecraft into the desired orbit? If yes, then that was definitely a failed launch.
@@HowToSpacic was a failure in flight not launch. it's called space flight.
@@Mike88GT the second stage is part of the launch as well, any boost provided by the rocket to get it's payload onto it's final trajectory is considered as part of the launch, so yes this is a launch failure.
At least it happened on a starlink mission and not a human mission. I'm sure they'll figure it out pretty quick and get going again. The beauty about failing is you can learn to be better.
Boeing and Blue origin is willing to help out.😂
So funny 😂 I love it 😄
I don't consider anything embarrassing about experimental launches of scientific engineering of this level of complexity. I consider it something natural and part of the process. And I don't see any intention of making it seem different from this on the part of SpaceX, which confirms its ethical integrity and professional maturity. Even in surgery on the human body there are risks, and no one goes after the doctor to embarrass him. Care is taken to avoid accidents, but it is still a scientific technology, that is, in constant evolution and consequent transformation. What matters to me is that they are in the process, and we will reach our Star Trek destination with rockets and ships of various super sophisticated engineering types, and Elon Musk will always be a pioneer, because this mission on Earth was destined for him, and in a very particular and significant way. 🗽👏👏👏💝💙💥🔥🚀🛸
Geez,everything breaks,same with reusable rockets 🚀
Would have been so cool to see a lift off while we were down here this week :( but safely first.
Hardly think it's a Morton-Thiocol thing.
It's really important to get the government involved in this, because they actually do stuff.
I was wondering if the frost was from the fog condensing on the rocket internals when they were fueling.
They talk as if a high launch cadence is a bad thing. Space is already dangerous. Saying flying less makes it safer is the most bogus statement in engineering. There is absolutely nothing to substantiate it.
The Falcon 9 did not fail. the 2nd stage failed. Right?
Yes! They keep referring to the second stage as if it was the first stage. AFAIK a second stage failure is less of a risk than first stage. The engine destroyed itself, but the tank didn't explode and the payload still deployed nominally; it was just the orbit that was screwed up.
With this incident and the last-second abort of another Falcon 9 launch on June 14, I wouldn't be surprised of a finding that SpaceX is pushing their schedule too much leading to human error.
What info do you have to back up that statement?
@@paradoxicalcat7173 Use google or your favorite search engine, there are articles suggesting SpaceX is pushing their employees too hard. Two incidents in one month with a Falcon 9 launch indicates SpaceX has a problem. We'll know more after the FAA investigation.
Bro went time out 💀
It's Jonathan McDowell, and not Johnathan right?
Yes, his name is spelled Jonathan.
Tyvm for most of truth ❤
Ramping up production to 150 second stages a year can introduce a host of quality problems.
Around 7:00, what’s being said doesn’t match what is being said.
The subtitles are a bit weird for the whole video
Thats about a 99% success rate at about 10% of the price of a NASA launch.
Elon should ask Boeing to help.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
So sorry .keep doing it Elon .you are the higher ever❤
Space travel is not part of an ecosystem.
Get it fixed, Elon.
What about Ms. Shotwell?
spaceZ might want to check the back ground of their assembly personnel. former boeing employees.
best played back at 2x speed. These droids talk so slowly that drool is running down their chins
guys just guessing about what might have happened. Not very useful.
Jonathan McDowell is an astronomer and he has certainly done the math to prove these satellites have deorbited, also some re-entries were seen over argentina and chile last night that were definitely sats from 9-3
After so many perfect flights, then Elon gives money to Trump and this happens.
Disgruntle employee? Maybe?
I'm just saying, I know nothing about rockets. I may be barking up the wrong tree. Remotes are not always right.
Another failure for a notoriously unreliable launch system: 96%. Most modern launch systems have 100% reliability. Then there's Starship: 0/4 for orbital launches.
Are you on drugs?? Space X is the most successful per quantity of launches than anyone else in history.👍🏻