After a successful launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper-stage rocket failed to initiate its deorbit burn. The anomaly has forced the aerospace company to delay upcoming Falcon 9 launches.
Per SpaceX, the Falcon 9 rocket suffered an upper-stage engine malfunction during the deorbit burn and failed to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere as planned. The company confirmed that the Falcon 9 successfully delivered its payload of 25 Starlink satellites.
SpaceX posted the following statement on X:
During today’s Falcon 9 launch of @Starlink satellites, the second stage experienced an off-nominal condition during preparation for the deorbit burn. The vehicle then performed as designed to successfully passivate the stage. The first two MVac burns were nominal and safely deployed all 25 @Starlink satellites to their intended orbit. Teams are reviewing data to determine root cause and corrective actions before returning to flight.
After the failed deorbiting, and in coordination with US Space Force, the Starlink 17-32 Falcon 9 upper stage was catalogued as object 67673 to allow tracking of the errant rocket. Space Force believes it will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere quickly. According to some unconfirmed reports, it may have already entered the atmosphere and burned up as it was orbiting at a low altitude when first reported.
SpaceX has paused all other launches as it reviews the data to determine the root cause of the engine malfunction and can take corrective actions on its fleet of rockets.
The next scheduled launch was for this Thursday, February 5 at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
