SpaceX launches are suspended after a booster rocket toppled over in flames during landing on Wednesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded the company’s Falcon 9 rockets and ordered an investigation following the pre-dawn crash off the coast of Florida. No injuries or public damage were reported.
It’s too early to know what impact this will have on SpaceX’s upcoming crew flights, one private and one for NASA. The billionaire-chartered flight was delayed hours earlier due to poor weather forecasts.
The rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and delivered all 21 Starlink internet satellites into orbit. But the first stage booster went down in a fireball moments after landing on an ocean platform, the first such accident in years. It was the 23rd time that particular booster had been launched, a recycling record for SpaceX.
The FAA said it must approve SpaceX’s accident findings and corrective actions before the company can resume Falcon 9 launches. A launch from California with other Starlink rockets was immediately canceled after the accident.
SpaceX Vice President Jon Edwards said the company is working to figure out what happened “as soon as possible.”
“Losing a booster is always sad. Each one has a unique story and character. Luckily, it doesn’t happen often,” Edwards posted on X.
In addition to the private spaceflight waiting to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX is scheduled to launch a pair of astronauts for NASA late next month. Two seats will be reserved for the two astronauts who were sent in June aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, which NASA deemed unsafe for their return.
