SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, the company’s most widely used, were reauthorized for launch Friday by the U.S. regulator, which said it was continuing its investigation into the rare incident earlier in the week that prompted the suspension.
• Also read: SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets grounded after incident
• Also read: SpaceX’s mission to carry out its first private spacewalk has been postponed indefinitely
Before dawn Wednesday, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Starlink satellites — a service that provides a satellite connection to the internet — blasted off safely from Florida.
After releasing its cargo, the first stage of the rocket descended as usual to land on a barge at sea. This process, SpaceX’s great innovation, allows the company to reuse this part of the vehicle and thus cut costs.
But video of the maneuver showed the first stage catching fire as it landed on the barge, then flipping onto its side. It “flipped over,” billionaire Elon Musk’s company later confirmed on X, specifying that this was the craft’s 23rd flight.
The US aviation regulator (FAA) had decided the same day to ground the aircraft, a decision it lifted on Friday while its investigation into the incident continues.
In July, the rocket had already been grounded for about two weeks after a different incident: a leak on the rocket’s second stage.
This week’s setback could delay the launch, postponed indefinitely this week, of the Polaris Dawn mission, which aims to carry out the first private spacewalk in history.
At the end of September, a Falcon 9 rocket is also scheduled to launch two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). This mission is also scheduled to bring two other astronauts back to Earth in February, whose initial spacecraft, designed by Boeing, ultimately proved unsafe for the return trip.
