SpaceX's Falcon 9 Launch Failure 20 Starlink Satellites Affected

TapTechNews July 12th news, at 10:35 Beijing time, SpaceX launched 20 G9-3 Starlink v2 mini satellites into space using the Falcon 9 Block.5 launch vehicle at SLC-4E of Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The first-stage booster (serial number B1063.19) that executed this mission had previously carried out 18 launch missions and was successfully recovered later, but the 'disposable' second-stage booster abnormally disintegrated, resulting in the satellites failing to reach the intended orbit, and this launch mission was declared a failure, which also means that the Falcon 9's consecutive 325 successful launch records have been interrupted since then.

According to SpaceX and Musk's statement, because the second-stage booster failed to complete ignition, this batch of Starlink satellites could only be deployed to an orbit lower than expected. Currently, although 5 satellites have successfully established contact, considering the relatively weak performance of the Hall thruster carried by the satellites, its subsequent situation will not be very optimistic, at least Musk thinks it is unlikely to complete the orbit raising by software OTA.

It can be seen from the SpaceX live broadcast screen that a white substance leakage appeared on the side of the rocket upper stage, which may mean propellant leakage or the thruster freezing. SpaceX is currently conducting an investigation.

The Falcon 9 is the rocket with the most launch times in history, and only had a flight failure once in June 2015.