by WASHINGTON – SpaceX is suspending launches of its Falcon 9 rocket after an upper stage burn-in problem during a crewed launch on September 28, the second upper stage anomaly in less than three months for the rocket.
SpaceX said inside a message on social media early September 29 reported that the upper stage “experienced an off-rated deorbit burn” during the Crew-9 mission launched on September 28. “As a result, the second stage landed safely in the ocean, but outside the target area. ”
The company did not provide additional details about the incident but said it would suspend Falcon 9 launches for the time being. “We will resume launch once we better understand the cause.”
The burn is intended to target the return of the upper stage, placing the stage over an unpopulated area of the South Pacific to avoid leaving the stage in orbit where it would pose a risk of orbital debris and to prevent an uncontrolled return. . The intended return location, based on warnings of air and sea hazards, was east of New Zealand.
The incident is the second problem with the Falcon 9 upper stage in less than three months. On a Starlink launch late July 11, the single Merlin engine in the upper stage malfunctioned when it reignited during a second burn to complete its orbit. The satellites were deployed, but in low orbits, so the satellites quickly came back in.
An investigation concluded that the engine had a liquid oxygen leak caused by a crack in a sensing line for a pressure sensor. The leak resulted in “excessive cooling of engine components,” including those that supply ignition fluid to the engine. That made the engine difficult to start when it reignited, damaging the engine and causing a loss of attitude control.
On that July launch, the liquid oxygen leak was seen in a video of the initial combustion of the upper stage as ice built up on the engine parts. There was no sign of similar ice buildup or other anomalous stage behavior during the Crew-9 launch, and neither SpaceX nor NASA mentioned any problems with the rocket during a post-launch press conference.
It is unclear how long SpaceX would pause the Falcon 9 launch. The July incident halted Falcon 9 launches for 15 days, with the rocket returning to flight early July 27. SpaceX also halted launches for two days in late August after a booster was lost when it overturned and exploded while landing on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. Ocean.
In both previous cases, SpaceX needed approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to resume launches, either after completing an accident investigation or receiving a public safety determination from the agency that the incident did not pose any risk to the general public yielded. The FAA did not immediately respond to questions about the incident in early September.
The anomaly comes as SpaceX prepares for two time-sensitive launches in the coming weeks. One Falcon 9 is expected to launch on October 7 on the European Space Agency’s asteroid Hera mission. A Falcon Heavy, whose upper stage is similar to the Falcon 9, will launch NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft no earlier than October 10. Both missions have launch windows that run until the end of October.
