It's not every day that SpaceX hits a bump in space, but when it does, it's big news! On Thursday night, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, aiming to send 20 shiny new Starlink internet satellites into orbit. Sounds like another day at the office for Elon Musk's space company, right? Well, not quite this time.
About an hour after liftoff, things took a turn for the unexpected. The rocket's second stage engine failed to reignite, a crucial step for pushing those satellites into their proper orbit. Instead, they were left hanging out in a dangerously low orbit, putting them at risk of burning up in Earth's atmosphere. Talk about a hot mess! 🔥🌍
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wasn't too thrilled about this hiccup. They've decided to ground all Falcon 9 rockets until SpaceX figures out what went wrong. Safety first, folks! The FAA stated that \"no public injuries or public property damage have been reported,\" but they're not taking any chances.
SpaceX acknowledged the issue on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). \"During Thursday's launch, the second stage engine did not complete its second burn,\" they said. \"As a result, the Starlink satellites were deployed into a lower than intended orbit.\" Classic understatement, right? 😅
Elon Musk himself chimed in, tweeting that the engine failed \"for reasons currently unknown. Team is reviewing data tonight to understand root cause.\" You can almost picture the SpaceX team pulling an all-nighter with pizza and coffee, trying to solve the space mystery. 🍕☕
This incident is a rare setback for Falcon 9, which has completed 354 missions since its debut. The last time something like this happened was back in 2015, when a Falcon 9 exploded during launch in Florida. Let's hope they can get back on track soon!
For now, we'll be keeping our eyes on the skies and rooting for SpaceX to sort things out. After all, space is hard, but that's what makes it exciting! ✨🚀
Reference(s):
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket leaves Starlink satellites in wrong orbit
cgtn.com
