SpaceX Falcon 9 Returns to Flight Operations

By David Shepardson
Date: WASHINGTON (Reuters)

The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle may return to flight operations while the overall investigation of the anomaly during a recent Starlink mission remains open, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Friday.

SpaceX made the request to return Falcon 9 to flight on Thursday, and the FAA granted approval on Friday, stating that flights could resume “provided all other license requirements are met.”

On Wednesday, the FAA had grounded Falcon 9 after an unsuccessful landing attempt during a routine Starlink mission, marking the second grounding this year for the company.

Falcon 9 successfully launched a batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit early Wednesday from Florida. Although the rocket’s reusable first stage booster attempted to land on a sea-faring barge as usual, it toppled into the ocean after a fiery touchdown.

Groundings of the Falcon 9, which is relied upon by much of the Western world for satellite and human spaceflight, are rare. The rocket was previously grounded in July following a second-stage failure that doomed a batch of Starlink satellites.

Following the July grounding, SpaceX returned Falcon 9 to flight just 15 days later after receiving FAA’s expedited approval.

Falcon 9 is also set to launch two NASA astronauts in late September on a Crew Dragon spacecraft, which will repatriate the astronauts who have been on the International Space Station after riding Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft.

Since its first launch in 2010, SpaceX has developed a large fleet of reusable Falcon boosters, allowing the company to significantly outperform its rivals in launch frequency.

Another Starlink mission was planned shortly after Wednesday’s flight from SpaceX’s other launch site in southern California, but the company canceled this mission following the landing failure.