In a surprising turn of events, SpaceX has been forced to shut down future launches after encountering a problem with the second stage of its Crew-9 mission. Despite the successful first human spaceflight from its Cape Canaveral launch site, the company is now investigating the root cause of the issue. This incident comes on the heels of a recent fiery landing of a Falcon 9’s first-stage booster, raising concerns about the reliability of SpaceX’s operations. According to the report, the company has been forthright about these issues and is working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure the safety and reliability of its future launches. As the industry waits with bated breath, this setback could potentially impact the upcoming Falcon Heavy launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, scheduled for as early as October 10th.
Crew-9 Mission Anomaly
During the Crew-9 mission all astronauts safely made it to the International Space Station, but a potential issue with the rocket’s second stage prevented a drone ship landing. SpaceX announced that the second stage suffered an “off-nominal deorbit burn” and landed out in the ocean rather than its intended target
The incident has caused the company to suspend any further launches to uncover what exactly went wrong. The shutdown has a product of the closure demur from website which was already affected a planned November 20 launch from California due to send up the OneWeb Launch 20 mission for Eutelsat Group.
Of course, SpaceX is no stranger to publicly examining issues encountered during its launches, as the company continues such an approach with this incident. This indicated the issue was known and that the company is collaborating with the FAA on figuring out what went wrong, then presumably rectifying the situation before getting back up to full flying speed.
SpaceX’s stellar Launch Record – and Reliability Concerns
Until the accident, SpaceX had been on an unprecedented string of years-long successful launches and landings of its rockets. Since 2010, the company has successfully launched its Falcon 9 a total of 377 times with only one due to in-flight explosion in June 2015.
SpaceX, meanwhile, has landed 351 boosters at this point successfully, with some of them landing more than half a dozen launches – resulting in a total of 320 reflightsrences:. This impressive record has helped the company to hold a high launch tempo, with 93 Falcon 9 rockets and a single Falcon Heavy sent aloft now this year.
Nevertheless, the new troubles with the Crew-9 mission’s second stage and a fiery return to Earth for an earlier Falcon 9 booster underscore concerns about overall reliability of SpaceX’s operations. How well the company can do that will be key to whether it keeps its customers and public trust.
Probable Impacts on Future Missions
The suspension of future launches would have significant ramifications for upcoming missions — including NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, which is set to launch on a Falcon Heavy in the next few years. The massive satellite is destined for Jupiter’s icy moon Europa and will liftoff on October 10th from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A.
Moreover: “There is the potential for significant delay in launches, which could impact the timing for this important mission as well as other missions planned. According to NASA, SpaceX will need to identify the cause of the Crew-9 mission anomaly fast and then implement any fixes as soon as possible if these upcoming missions are to go ahead (most, so far at least, have generally proceeded on schedule).
SpaceX’s reputation for reliability and safety is paramount to its long-term success in the highly competitive commercial space arena, so much will be at stake when it comes time to address this issue going forward.
