SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – SpaceX has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to resume flights of its Falcon 9 rocket just days after a Starlink mission from California suffered a malfunction, prompting the agency to ground the reusable launch vehicles.
A safety investigation has since begun following Thursday’s hampered deployment of more SpaceX internet satellites. The California-based private space flight company on Monday requested the FAA to resume uncrewed commercial Falcon 9 flights even as engineers continue to study what happened.
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According to News 6 partner Florida Today, SpaceX has requested that the FAA acknowledge Thursday’s anomaly was not a threat to public safety. As far as what went wrong, SpaceX has blamed a liquid oxygen leak for causing the Falcon 9′s upper stage to malfunction several minutes into the flight, ultimately deploying the 20-satellite payload in an orbit too low for the Starlink units to avoid falling back through the atmosphere and burning up.
As such, the satellites will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise. They do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety.https://t.co/96M1qY6Juw
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 12, 2024
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SpaceX’s live feed of the launch out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, appeared foggy and gray, with the Falcon 9′s flames barely visible as the rocket left the pad. CBS News space consultant Bill Harwood noted a buildup of ice on the upper stage, according to Associated Press aerospace writer Marcia Dunn.
“Lots and lots of ice was flaking away and flying off into space indicating a leak somewhere,” Harwood said.
An FAA statement obtained by Florida Today reads in part, “The FAA is reviewing the request and will be guided by data and safety at every step of the process.”
Read further on Florida Today.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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