The reliable Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX had an unusual malfunction on Thursday night, July 11.
The event happened when SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellites were being launched from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Falcon 9 launched and operated flawlessly in the first eight minutes of flight; its two stages split on schedule, and the first stage descended as scheduled to land on a drone ship.
Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, claims that the rocket’s upper stage, which was carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft into low Earth orbit, ran into an issue.
For reasons that are yet unknown, an engine RUD occurred during the upper stage restart to raise perigee. The team is analyzing the data now to determine the underlying cause.Despite their deployment, the Starlink satellites might not be able to raise their orbit due to the low perigee. In a few hours, we’ll know more.12 July 2024
“Upper stage restart to raise perigee resulted in an engine RUD for reasons currently unknown. Team is reviewing data tonight to understand root cause. Starlink satellites were deployed, but the perigee may be too low for them to raise orbit. Will know more in a few hours,” Musk stated via X.
“Rud” stands for “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” which is SpaceX jargon for a detonation or breakdown.
Through the company’s X account, SpaceX released additional information an hour after Musk’s post.
“During tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink, the second-stage engine did not complete its second burn. As a result, the Starlink satellites were deployed into a lower-than-intended orbit. SpaceX has made contact with 5 of the satellites so far and is attempting to have them raise orbit using their ion thrusters,” according to a statement from the firm.
Musk stated that this endeavor “will probably not work, but it’s worth a shot” in response to that post.
To be honest, the upper stage of the Falcon 9, which is propelled by a single Merlin engine, appeared a little strange throughout this flight. During the engine’s firing in orbit, fluffy white ice built up nearby. This was a rare sight, and it could be a sign of a propellant leak, according to SpaceX’s launch webcast. But that’s just conjecture; neither Musk nor SpaceX have made any announcements regarding the ice to date.
Currently, the most common rocket in use is the Falcon 9, having launched 69 times as of 2024. The Falcon 9 is renowned for its dependability; in its illustrious history, there has only been a single complete in-flight malfunction, and that happened in June 2015 during the launch of a robotic Dragon cargo capsule into the International Space Station (ISS).
Also human-rated, the Falcon 9 has carried out 13 crewed missions to far, nine of which have carried astronauts to the International Space Station on behalf of NASA. At this point, it’s unknown how Thursday’s event will impact the rocket and its manifest; SpaceX needs to first determine the precise cause of the incident and how to resolve it.
Thirteen of the twenty Starlink satellites launched on Thursday can provide direct cell phone service. These days, the majority of Falcon 9 launches are for the massive and constantly expanding Starlink megaconstellation, which comprises of over 6,100 operational satellites. As of now in 2024, 49 of the 69 flights have been specifically for Starlink.