This 2016 photo shows a SpaceX Falcon 9 at the I Still Love You ocean launch pad off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA via Getty Images
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle was damaged on its way back to port over the weekend.
According to SpaceX, the rocket had put over 860 satellites and two people into orbit.
SpaceX plans to recover and examine the launch vehicle.
This is a machine translation of an article from our US colleagues at Business Insider. It was automatically translated and checked by an editor.
SpaceX has lost a launch vehicle after a Christmas mishap. One of its Falcon 9 boosters, B1058, overturned after landing on the drone ship. The rocket was on its way back to Cape Canaveral, Florida, SpaceX reports. The booster was an older model. It was missing some of the automatic leg stabilization features. It overturned due to rough water and turbulent winds, the company said.
Wind and turbulent waters can make landing difficult, SpaceX’s VP of Launch, Kiko Dontchev, wrote on “Strong winds or swells then cause the booster to rock and slide, which can lead to even worse strain on the legs.”
“We will make lemonade out of the lemons and learn as much as we can,” Dontchev added.
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Newer versions of Falcon boosters are less likely to tip over thanks to better landing legs that can balance themselves.
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SpaceX wants to recover its launch vehicle from the sea
This particular Falcon 9 launch vehicle completed its 19th and final mission on December 23rd. The space company said it has launched over 860 satellites into space in the past three and a half years.
It also carried astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station in 2020. This was the first manned American flight into space since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011 and SpaceX’s first manned mission.
Jon Edwards, vice president of Falcon Launch Vehicles at SpaceX, explained told the Orlando Sentinel that SpaceX will not let the rest of the launch vehicle go to waste: The company plans to recover the engine and examine the remaining portions of the launch vehicle.
Despite B1058’s bumpy landing that rendered it unusable, SpaceX isn’t slowing down anytime soon. A launch window for the SpaceX ship Falcon Heavy is scheduled to open on Thursday evening. The ship is intended to launch the Space Force’s mysterious X-37B spaceplane into orbit, according to Florida Today reported.
A launch window for the Starlink 6-36 mission is also expected to open between late Thursday evening and early Friday morning, according to Florida Today. If conditions permit, a Falcon 9 will launch from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
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