Mission Successfully Deployed 21 Starlink Satellites

After a normal launch, ascent, and successful deployment of its 21 Starlink internet satellites, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 first-stage booster rocket failed to land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship when one of its landing legs collapsed and the booster toppled into the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX immediately postponed the second of its back-to-back Starlink launches of the morning in California, planned to lift off shortly after the first. Then the FAA grounded the Falcon 9 rockets – including the Polaris Dawn booster – saying it would require an investigation into the incident.

The failure ended a streak of 267 consecutive successful booster recoveries going back to February 2021, and it was the 23rd and what turned out to be the final launch and landing of first stage B1062. This was a new record for reuse of a booster, which SpaceX is attempting to get certified for up to 40 launches.

The FAA said in a statement, "A return to flight of the Falcon 9 booster rocket is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the anomaly does not affect public safety. In addition, SpaceX may need to request and receive approval from the FAA to modify its license that incorporates any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements."

Polaris Dawn is a commercial flight with four astronauts planning to conduct the first spacewalk by non-government astronauts. It had been postponed earlier in the evening prior to the Starlink launch due to poor weather at forecast splashdown.

FMI:  www.spacex.com/