SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites, but the rocket's first stage crashes into the landing barge.

After The Polaris, which was piloted late Tuesday, stands down from Dawn AveSpaceX shifted gears and moved ahead with plans to relaunch Starlink Internet satellites early Wednesday, one from Florida and the other from California.

But the second flight was aborted after the first stage used in the Florida launch overturned in the Atlantic Ocean and broke up while attempting to land on a SpaceX unmanned ship parked several hundred miles northeast of Cape Canaveral. The landing accident ended a streak of 267 successful booster recoveries dating back to February 2021.

Meanwhile, the second stage of Falcon 9 successfully carried 21 Starlink satellites into their planned orbits.

A time exposure captures the fiery trajectory of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink Internet satellites from Florida early Wednesday morning. From this perspective, the rocket arcs over the moon and, on the horizon, is Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, where another Falcon 9 is poised for launch, ready to send the Polaris Dawn crew into space on a privately chartered mission. Non-Governmental Space Walk. The Starlink flight was cleared for launch after Polaris Dawn was grounded due to expected inclement weather in the crew splashdown zone.

Michael Caine/Space Travel Now

The first stage landing appeared normal until the moment of touchdown, when more flames than usual were visible around the base of the rocket as it neared the base. A landing leg immediately collapsed on touchdown and the booster, engulfed in flames and smoke, plunged into the Atlantic over the side of the landing craft.

“After a successful liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage booster, A Shortfall of Gravitas, touched down following the droneship,” SpaceX said on social media platform X. “Teams evaluate booster’s flight data and status.”

This was the 23rd and final launch and landing of first stage B1062, setting a new reuse record. SpaceX is working toward certifying 40 flights each of its Falcon 9 first stages.

A camera mounted on the Falcon 9 first stage captured the scene of the droneship A’s shortfall of Gravitas moments before touchdown. A camera on board the drone illuminates the landing pad with the rocket’s exhaust as it approaches the ship.

SpaceX

During touchdown, flames erupted and one landing leg collapsed.

SpaceX

The rocket crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX

SpaxeX called off a California launch scheduled for 5:58 a.m. EDT to give engineers more time to review telemetry and video footage for signs of problems that could affect other rockets, shortly after the Starlinks were deployed from Florida. .

“Standing down from our second @Starlink launch of the night to give the team time to review booster landing data from the previous launch,” SpaceX said on X. “A new target release date will be shared once available.”

Here are the updated Falcon 9 stats from this morning’s Florida release:

Total number of Falcon 9 launches to date: 367
Total Falcon Heavy launches till date: 10
Total Super Heavy/Starship Launched till date: 4
Falcon 9/Heavy introduced this year: 83 (82 F9s, 1 FH)
Falcon 9 in Flight/Severe Failures: 2 (06/28/15, 07/11/24)
Successful Falcon 9/Heavy launches in a row: 13
Most successful flights in a row: 344 (between 6/28/15 and 07/11/24)

Starlink launches to date: 190 (181 dedicated flights, 9 mixed payloads)
Starlink launches this year: 58
Starlink satellites launched to date: 6,920
Live-cell capable Starlings: 136
Starlinks are expected to go to the latest release: 6,269*
SpaceX: 1,548 payloads launched into orbit this year

First Class Fleet Leader: B1062, 23 aircraft (lost on booster landing)
California landings to date: 20
Florida landings to date: 54
Droneship landings to date: 267 (not counting today’s flight)
Cumulative successful booster landings: 341
Successful booster landings in a row: 267 (before today’s flight)

*Source: https://planet4589.org/space/con/star/stats.html

William Harwood

Bill Harwood has been the Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International since 1984 and now covers the U.S. space program full-time as a consultant for CBS News.