SpaceX cleared to launch Falcon 9 rocket after rare failure | CNN

 

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A Falcon 9 first stage booster is displayed at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, on July 16.

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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, the world’s most prolific launcher, is ready to return to flight after suffering a mission-ending failure during a routine trip earlier this month.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which licenses commercial rocket launches and assesses accidents, said Thursday it had determined there were “no public safety concerns” involved when the Falcon 9 failed in orbit on July 11, clearing the way for the rocket to return to flight soon.

“This public safety decision means that the Falcon 9 vehicle can resume flight operations while the overall investigation remains open, provided all other licensing requirements are met,” the FAA said.

On its website, SpaceX has already revealed that it will put the Falcon 9 back to work as early as Saturday, launching a batch of Starlink internet satellites.

If the launch is successful, SpaceX could resume its routine but crucial work of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX’s tenth flight, on behalf of NASA, is scheduled to take place in August. NASA plans to share the latest on the mission today.

SpaceX also plans to launch a historic private astronaut mission, called Polaris Dawn, which will send billionaire philanthropist Jared Isaacman and three crew members into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 to perform the first-ever spacewalk by private citizens. That mission was scheduled to launch as early as July 31.

The Falcon 9, the smallest vehicle in SpaceX’s rocket fleet, is the backbone of the American rocket industry. As of 2024, it has already completed more than 60 missions. No other rocket is as active.

A Falcon 9 had launched a group of Starlink satellites from California on July 11, shortly before the accident.

The first stage of the mission appeared to go smoothly, with the Falcon 9 using its first stage booster (the lowest part of the rocket with nine engines that provide the initial energy boost at liftoff) to propel itself into space.

But the rocket’s second stage, designed to launch after the first stage falls off and propel the satellites to their final destination in orbit, failed abruptly.

SpaceX later revealed that there was an oxygen leak on that second stage. (Liquid oxygen, or LOX, is an oxidizer or propellant commonly used for rockets.) That led to what SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described at one point as a “RUD” — or “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” a phrase SpaceX typically uses to refer to an explosion.

Despite the accident, the satellites were deployed safely, but they were placed in a much lower orbit than planned, meaning they would likely be pulled out of space by Earth’s gravity very quickly.

The FAA, which regularly oversees investigations after such incidents, told CNN in an email that it found that “all debris from the anomaly has re-entered and there are still no reports of public injuries or damage to public property.”

SpaceX had asked the FAA on July 15 to assess the threat to public safety, allowing the company to resume flights even though the broader investigation — which aims to determine the “root cause” of the accident and identify how to correct the problem — is not complete.

In a message posted on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, SpaceX said Thursday it had “submitted our report to the FAA regarding the Falcon 9 launch anomaly, including the probable cause and associated corrective actions.”

The company cited the rocket’s long flight history as one reason it is “capable of collecting unprecedented levels of flight data and is ready to resume flights quickly.”