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SpaceX fails to stick ANOTHER landing: Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 rocket misses droneship and crashes into ocean following Starlink mission
- SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket missed the droneship when it landed on Monday
- The rocket went to land on Of course I still love you, but crashed into the ocean
- Elon Musk said he was able to recover half of the rocket’s active fairing
- SpaceX is set to launch another batch of Starlink satellites tonight at 9:55 p.m. ET
SpaceX failed to glue another landing after launching its Falcon 9 rocket on Monday night.
The rocket successfully deployed a new batch of 60 Starlink Internet satellites into orbit, but the booster missed the Of Course I Still Love You droneship in Port Canaveral on its return.
During the live broadcast of the SpaceX mission, a flash of light is visible on the right side of the airstrip when the booster has been set to land.
Although the company has not made an official announcement, CEO Elon Musk hints on Twitter that it crashed into the ocean.
A Twitter user posted: “ You will miss the RIP booster ” shortly after Monday’s mission, in which Musk replied, “ Yes. The active fairing is half restored.
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Monday’s Starlink mission began at 10:59 p.m. ET, when the Falcon 9 fired its engine and took off into the night sky
The failed landing comes just two weeks after SpaceX’s prototype Spacecraft 9 (SN9) exploded during a landing attempt after its first high-altitude test on February 2.
Monday’s Starlink mission began at 10:59 p.m. ET, when the Falcon 9 ignited its engine and took off into the night sky.
Because the area was completely dark, the rocket looked like a shooting star returning to space.
After releasing the bundle of Starlinks, the booster successfully re-introduced into the atmosphere by re-igniting its three engines to slow down.
During SpaceX’s livestream of the mission, a flash of light is seen on the right side of the airstrip when the booster has been set to land.
Moments later, SpaceX turned the livestream on the droneship to watch the booster land, but things didn’t go as planned.
“ It looks like we haven’t landed on an encore on Of Course I Still Love You, ” one of the ground crew members said in the livestream.
“It’s a shame we didn’t collect this booster.”
The failed landing occurred nearly a year after another thruster was lost at sea during the landing.
Because the area was completely dark, the rocket looked like a shooting star returning to space. After releasing the bundle of Starlinks, the booster managed to re-enter the atmosphere by re-igniting its three engines to slow down.
Although the company has not made an official announcement, CEO Elon Musk hints on Twitter that it crashed into the ocean. A Twitter user posted: “ You will miss the RIP booster ” shortly after Monday’s mission, in which Musk replied, “ Yes. Half-recovered active fairing
However, the crash did not prevent SpaceX from launching its 20th batch of Starlink satellites on Tuesday at 9:55 p.m. ET.
SpaceX rarely has issues with its Falcon 9 rockets, but the same can’t be said for its prototype Starship rockets.
On February 2, the firm lost its SN9 and in December its SN8 – both exploded while trying to land.
The SN9 reached its high altitude mark, but on its return trip the huge rocket could not stop in time and crashed into the launch pad.
SN8, however, appeared to want to stick on landing, but exploded the second it touched down.
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