SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 20 Starlink sattelites but the upper stage suffers engine failure

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 20 Starlink satellites and 13 of which were capable of beaming service directly to cell phones to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Station, California, on July 11, 2024 at 19:35​ PDT (July 122 at 02:35​ UTC). Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, stationed in the Pacific Ocean. But during the launch the rocket's upper stage, which was carrying 20 Starlink sattelites to low Earth orbit, encountered a leak of liquid oxygen, which had serious repercussions for the mission.
Spacex said that on July 12, “After a planned relight of the upper-stage engine to raise perigee - or the lowest point of orbit - the Merlin Vacuum engine experienced an anomaly and was unable to complete its second burn.” "Although the stage survived and still deployed the satellites, it did not successfully circularize its orbit, but it did passivate itself as normally performed at the end of each mission," the company added. "This left the satellites in an eccentric orbit with a very low perigee of 135 km [84 miles], which is less than half the expected perigee altitude." SpaceX said. Because of that, SpaceX said the satellites will reenter the atmosphere and burn up. There was no mention of when they might come down. More than 6,000 orbiting Starlinks currently provide internet service to customers in some of the most remote corners of the world.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the problem must be fixed before Falcon rockets can fly again and as well as determining when the Falcon 9 might return to the launchpad. SpaceX wrote, "SpaceX will perform a full investigation in coordination with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), determine root cause, and make corrective actions to ensure the success of future missions," SpaceX wrote in an update. "With a robust satellite and rocket production capability, and a high launch cadence, we’re positioned to rapidly recover and continue our pace as the world’s most active launch services provider."
As of today, it was not known if or how the accident might impact SpaceX’s upcoming crew flights, because there's a upcoming spaceflight that scheduled for July 31 from Florida with plans for the first private spacewalk, followed in mid-August by an astronaut flight to the International Space Station for NASA. Lastly, the SpaceX Falcon 9’s first stage (B1063) previously supported 18 missions, and that is the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, OneWeb 19/Iridium-9, SDA Tranche 0B (SDA-0B) and 13 Starlink missions.
Credit: SpaceX
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