In another rare mishap, a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster collapsed on the recovery drone ship just moments back after sending the firm's latest batch of Starlink satellites to orbit. The booster, as per SpaceX, was a veteran rocket as it had conducted its 23rd launch today before unfortunately being unable to maintain its orientation after landing on the firm's A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship. This was the first booster to launch 23 times, and footage from SpaceX's live stream showed the rocket landing successfully but failing to bear its weight before eventually tipping over on the drone ship.
SpaceX Confirms Falcon 9 Rocket Tipped Over On Drone Ship After Delivering Latest Batch Of Starlink Satellites To Space
Today's launch marked SpaceX's 83rd mission of the year, and it came moments after the firm had originally planned to fly the Polaris Dawn mission to space. Polaris Dawn is SpaceX's most ambitious flight to date, and it will see a crew of four reach the highest altitude in Earth orbit after the Apollo era of the 1970s. The Falcon 9 launch took place from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with the rocket flying for a record 23rd time and aiming to land on SpaceX's A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship located nearby.
The launch itself was a standard affair, as the rocket successfully lifted off from the Cape at 3:38 a.m. local time. Roughly a minute after launch, the rocket reached maximum air pressure, after which it cruised for another minute before the second stage's Merlin vacuum engine lit up, and the stage separated from the first stage rocket.
At close to the eight minute and twenty second mark post lift off, the Falcon 9 booster approached SpaceX's drone ship. All appeared to go well by this point as the rocket had managed to successfully ignite its engines for the boost back and landing burns. However, its final moments weren't so successful, as they led to another rare mishap for SpaceX.
After landing, the rocket's bottom appeared unable to put out the flames, which typically extinguish immediately after it lands either on a drone ship or on land. Following this, the cloud of flames appeared to only get worse, and at the same time, the Falcon 9 also lost its balance. In a slow sequence, the rocket gently tilted over to its side before going completely horizontal and landing on its side while fire and smoke appeared to continue billowing out from its aft.
SpaceX was quick to admit the accident on its social media page. In an X post, the firm shared that the "Falcon 9's first stage booster tipped over following touchdown on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship." It added that "assessing the booster's flight data and status," while not indicating whether the results from this assessment would be shared in the future. As for its part, the second stage completed its first engine burn and is on its way to a second burn before deploying the latest batch of Starlink satellites.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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