Yesterday, July 11th, a malfunction in the upper stage engine of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket disrupted a mission carrying a batch of Starlink satellites, potentially causing significant repercussions across the space industry. The Falcon 9 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:35 p.m. Eastern, aiming to deliver 20 Starlink satellites into orbit, including 13 equipped with direct-to-cell payloads. The mission, designated Group 9 to 3 by SpaceX, initially appeared to progress as planned.
The rocket’s ascent to orbit was typical, with the first stage successfully landing on a droneship. However, during the first burn of the second stage, observers noticed an unusual accumulation of ice around the cover of the Merlin engine. This anomaly, not usually observed in Falcon 9 launches, did not seem to impair the stage’s immediate performance.
The mission plan included a one-second engine burn 52 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff to circularize the orbit, followed by the deployment of the Starlink satellites. By the time SpaceX ended its launch webcast, there was no immediate confirmation of these milestones. Hours later, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, took to social media to address the situation. He stated, “Upper stage restart to raise perigee resulted in an engine RUD for reasons currently unknown.” In SpaceX terminology, “RUD” stands for “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” essentially meaning an anomaly.
Musk further explained that while the Starlink satellites were deployed, their perigee might be too low for them to maintain orbit. He indicated that more information would be available in the following hours. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and spaceflight expert, estimated that the launch had placed the upper stage on an initial transfer orbit of 138 by 295 kilometers before the second, crucial circularization burn. The timing of the engine anomaly during this brief burn would be critical in determining whether the satellites could avoid an immediate reentry.
After almost an hour spacex posted on X, “During tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink, the second stage engine did not complete its second burn. As a result, the Starlink satellites were deployed into a lower than intended orbit. SpaceX has made contact with 5 of the satellites so far and is attempting to have them raise orbit using their ion thrusters.”
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