RIP booster ? pic.twitter.com/jmlt1VoKb8
— Empress Heavy (@HeavyMetalShip) August 28, 2024
Watch the SpaceX rocket booster first stage explode on the deck of its droneship, when a landing leg gives out.
SpaceX rocket booster has fiery landing
A SpaceX booster suffered a rare failure while attempting to land on its droneship in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida on Wednesday morning, August 28, 2024. The Falcon 9 booster is meant to be reusable. And this booster – named B1062 – was on its 23rd mission when it toppled over upon landing. The first stage of Falcon 9 rocket boosters routinely return to Earth for droneship landings. But this time, booster B1062 had one of its three landing legs give out, causing the booster to fall on its side on the deck of the droneship in a fiery explosion. RIP, B1062!
The Falcon 9 booster successfully deployed 21 Starlink satellites before it exploded. SpaceX had been planning a second Starlink launch from California just hours later. But after the booster incident, the company decided to stand down on the second launch in order to assess the situation in Florida.
No word yet on how the droneship – named A Shortfall of Gravitas – fared after the incident.
After a successful ascent, Falcon 9’s first stage booster tipped over following touchdown on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship. Teams are assessing the booster’s flight data and status. This was the booster’s 23rd launch.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 28, 2024
You can see the back landing legs piston seems to detach from the tip of the landing leg. pic.twitter.com/RbRdUmRsYT
— JoshLoweSpace2 (@JoshLoweSpace2) August 28, 2024
Upcoming Polaris Dawn
SpaceX had another rocket booster mishap earlier this year with an in-flight failure on July 11, 2024. That Falcon 9 rocket failed to boost its payload of Starlink satellites into their proper orbits. The rocket’s upper stage had a leak of liquid oxygen, which resulted in the FAA’s grounding the SpaceX Falcon 9. After two weeks, the Falcon 9 returned to flight on July 27, delivering 23 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida.
Falcon 9 will be the rocket to boost the Polaris Dawn mission into space, possibly later this week. This mission involves four civilians and the first all-civilian spacewalk. It was supposed to launch early Tuesday morning from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Then it was supposed to launch Wednesday. But weather and other issues have pushed back the launch twice this week. The launch is currently set for no earlier than 3:38 a.m. EDT (7:38 UTC) on Friday, August 30, 2024.
Watch the early morning launch with EarthSky’s Dave Adalian and Deborah Byrd, in the video below. We’ll start around 3:30 a.m. EDT, maybe slightly earlier, on Friday.
Bottom line:A SpaceX rocket booster – the Falcon 9 B1062 – suffered a rare failure overnight. The first stage tipped over and exploded while attempting to land on a droneship. RIP, B1062!
