Space Challenges: Falcon 9 Halted Due to Anomalies

The Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX has once again paused its launches after the second stage failed to land in the planned area of the ocean, despite the successful delivery of the Dragon capsule and its crew into orbit.

"We will resume launches as soon as we have more information about the reasons for the issue," the company noted in a statement on platform X.

The Crew-9 mission, which sent NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov into orbit, launched on Saturday. Two seats in the capsule were left empty for the return of two Boeing Starliner astronauts in February. Hague and Gorbunov successfully arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday evening.

While the main part of the mission was executed without a hitch, the issue that arose during the second stage's re-entry became the third anomaly for Falcon 9 in three months. Re-entry requires precise ignition of the single Merlin Vacuum engine to ensure that any debris re-entering the atmosphere lands in a predetermined area of the ocean.

Earlier, in July and August, problems also occurred. The first incident, on July 11, involved a liquid oxygen leak in the second stage’s insulation during a Starlink launch, resulting in the loss of 20 satellites on board. Then, on August 28, the booster landed too hot during an attempt to land on a SpaceX drone ship and was destroyed upon impact.

These incidents did not cause long delays for Falcon 9; after the leak in July, SpaceX resumed launches just two weeks later. The company stated that it identified the cause of the leak—a cracked line connected to the pressure sensor—and took measures to prevent the issue from recurring. The anomaly during landing in August did not halt launches, as the Federal Aviation Administration allowed operations to continue during the investigation.

This latest issue could delay some important upcoming missions, particularly the European Space Agency’s Hera mission to study asteroids on October 7 and NASA's Europa Clipper mission to the moon of the same name on October 10. Both missions have tight launch windows that will close by the end of the month. The Falcon 9 mission scheduled to launch 20 internet satellites for Eutelsat OneWeb was also postponed.