A SpaceX re-useable booster in its 23rd flight tipped over and burst into flames while landing on a drone ship at sea after doing its part to get 21 Starlink satellites into orbit, the company and Spaceflight Now report.
SpaceX said on X that, “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.”
As Spaceflight Now put it on X, “After sending 21 Starlink satellites on their way to orbit, Falcon 9 booster 1062, making its 23rd flight, tipped over and exploded as it landed on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’. It was the first Falcon 9 landing failure since Feb. 2021. Watch a replay of our live coverage.”
Spaceflight Now
SpaceX confirmed on X that the payload of Starlinks was deployed into their proper orbit after the booster had begun its descent back to Earth.
Later, the company said it was “Standing down from our second @Starlink launch of the night to give the team time to review booster landing data from the previous launch. A new target launch date will be shared once available.”
The booster took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The scrubbed flight was to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The was no immediate indication of the impact of the explosion on SpaceX’s booster program.