SpaceX fails to hold ANOTHER landing: Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 rocket misses the drone and falls into the sea after a Starlink mission
- SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket missed the drone when it landed on Monday
- The rocket landed on Of Course I Still Love You, but crashed into the sea
- Elon Musk said they were able to recover the active lid half of the rocket
- SpaceX launches a group of Starlink satellites again tonight at 21:55 ET
SpaceX was unable to hold another landing after launching its Falcon 9 rocket Monday night.
The rocket successfully deployed a new group of 60 Starlink Internet satellites into orbit, but the booster missed the Natural Droneship in Port Canaveral on its return.
During SpaceX’s live stream of the mission, a flash of light is seen on the right side of the landing strip when the booster is set to drop.
Although the firm has not made an official announcement, CEO Elon Musk has hinted on Twitter for the idea that it crashed into the sea.
One Twitter user posted shortly after the Monday broadcast ‘RIP booster you will miss’, to which Musk replied:’ Yes. However, half of the active fair has recovered. ‘
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Monday’s Starlink mission began at 22:59 ET when Falcon 9 started its engine and took off into the night sky.
The failed booster landing comes just two weeks after SpaceX’s Starship Series Number 9 (SN9) prototype exploded when it attempted to land after the first high-altitude test on 2 February.
Monday’s Starlink mission began at 22:59 ET, when Falcon 9 started its engine and took off into the night sky.
Because the area was completely dark, the rocket looked like a shooting star on its way to space.
After the group Starlinks was released, the booster caused a successful return to the atmosphere by re-igniting its three engines to slow down.
During SpaceX’s live mission, a flash of light is seen on the right side of the runway when the booster is set to drop.
Moments later, SpaceX landed the live stream on the droneship to see the booster, but things did not go according to plan.
“It does look like we did not land a booster on Uiteraard,” said one of the ground crew members in the live stream.
“It’s a shame we did not repair this booster.”
The failed landing took place almost one year after a new booster was lost during the landing.
Because the area was completely dark, the rocket looked like a shooting star on its way to space. After the Starlinks series was released, the booster successfully re-entered the atmosphere by re-igniting its three engines to slow down.
Although the firm has not made an official announcement, CEO Elon Musk has hinted on Twitter for the idea that it crashed into the sea. One Twitter user posted shortly after the Monday broadcast ‘RIP booster you will miss’, to which Musk replied:’ Yes. However, half of the active disk has been restored
However, the crash prevented SpaceX from launching its 20th group of Starlink satellites on Tuesday at 21:55 ET.
SpaceX rarely has issues with its Falcon 9 rockets, but the same cannot be said for its Starship rocket prototypes.
On February 2, the firm loses its SN9 and in December its SN8 – both explode as they try to land.
The SN9 did reach its peak, but on its return journey the massive rocket could not go up in time and hit it in the starting position.
SN8, however, looked like it would hold the landing, but exploded the second time it hit the ground.