SpaceX
SpaceX rocket is banned from taking off, casting doubt on upcoming missions
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will be held back for the second time in two months so that US federal regulators can investigate the failed landing attempt that occurred on Wednesday morning (28).
This makes the Falcon 9 rocket unavailable for two important space missions on SpaceX's horizon: Polaris Dawn and Crew-9.
It's unclear how long the Falcon 9 will remain grounded. After a similar accident in July, the rocket was banned from flying for a few weeks.
The company aimed to launch a bold mission called Polaris Dawn later this week, and next month it hoped to fly two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on Crew-9, a mission that will also bring home the Boeing Starliner test flight crew. — after months trapped in space.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been in orbital laboratory limbo since Starliner experienced technical problems after their flight in early June.
Wednesday's incident involved the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket — the lower part of the spacecraft, which provides the first burst of energy at liftoff — which failed to land vertically on a sea platform and exploded.
The overall mission, however, appeared to go off without a hitch, safely delivering a batch of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites into orbit.
Still, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which licenses commercial rocket launches, said it intends to investigate the accident.