SpaceX experiences upper stage mishap during California Starlink launch

Upcoming SpaceX launches were suddenly thrown into disarray after SpaceX announced Monday that it was investigating a mishap during a Starlink launch in California.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 7:47 a.m. PT (10:47 a.m. ET). While the rocket successfully carried 25 Starlink internet satellites into orbit, There was a malfunction in the upper stage In preparation for deorbit burn.

“During today’s Falcon 9 launch @Starlink “The second stage of the satellites encountered an off-nominal condition during deorbit burn preparation,” SpaceX said in a statement on X. “The vehicle then performed as designed to successfully deactivate the stage. The first two MVac burns were nominal and all 25 procedures were performed safely.” @Starlink “The satellites return to their intended orbit. Teams review the data to determine the root cause and corrective actions before returning to flight.”

For now, it remains to be seen what impact this will have on the Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral. The next launch is currently set to occur no earlier than 4:20 PM on Thursday, February 5, from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This mission is also a Starlink mission.

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NASA Crew-12 is also scheduled to launch with Falcon 9 no earlier than February 11. It is not yet known whether this investigation into the upper stage failure will cause a delay. Because NASA’s Crew-11 returned early due to a crew member falling ill, only one NASA astronaut currently remains among the crew on the ISS.

Brooke Edwards is Florida Today’s Space Reporter. Contact him at: bedwards@floridatoday.com or in X: @brookeofstars.

This article first appeared on Florida Today: Upper stage failure occurred at SpaceX launch in California