SpaceX grounds Falcon 9 flights after second-stage issue

By Joey Roulette

February 3 (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX has paused flights of its powerful Falcon 9 rocket due to an unspecified problem in the second stage after successfully placing Starlink satellites into orbit on Monday, the company said. After the two-stage Falcon 9 launched ‌25 Starlink satellites into space on a routine mission from southern California, the rocket’s second stage “encountered a non-nominal situation” as it prepared to deorbit as planned, SpaceX X wrote, adding that the rocket stage was drained of all its remaining fuel as designed after a mishap. “Teams are reviewing the data to determine the root cause and corrective actions before returning to flight,” SpaceX said. Falcon 9 is the world’s most active rocket; It has been launched 165 times in 2025; most of these are SpaceX’s in-house missions to expand the Starlink constellation. The 2024 mission failure that destroyed a number of Starlink satellites was SpaceX’s first such rocket-related failure since 2016. Monday’s mission was not a mission failure. But a problem with the rocket’s second stage, if left unchecked, could compromise the launch of future satellites into orbit or endanger populated areas if the vehicle cannot properly self-destruct. The Falcon 9’s second stage airframe is designed to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere after launching payloads into orbit; In case any components survive or deorbit, it uses its engines to target a reentry zone away from populated areas. SpaceX did not specify how long the accident investigation would take. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees rocket launches and their impact on public safety, was placed on unpaid leave during the government shutdown and did not return a request for comment.

(Reporting by ‌Joey Roulette; Editing by Andrea Ricci)