SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster returning after launch became a ball of fire video

Falcon 9 rocket Blast: SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket has given another blow to Elon Musk’s company. The first-stage booster of this reusable rocket did not land properly and caught fire. Just last month, this rocket failed in space and due to that 20 Starlink satellites could not reach their orbit. Now the failure has raised the question whether the time has come to replace the Falcon-9 rocket.

According to reports, Falcon 9 took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday. The rocket was launched to deliver SpaceX’s 21 Starlink satellites into orbit. It was the 23rd mission of the rocket’s first stage booster.

Falcon 9 B1062 completes 23 missions but unfortunately topples over on ASOG. Before this, SpaceX had 267 successful Falcon booster landings in a row.

Please note that they always expected to lose some boosters on landing; it was just crazy that they had such a run of successes. https://t.co/q6pRXA3ktf pic.twitter.com/yQySUlamWU

— Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 28, 2024

As planned, the rocket delivered all the Starlink satellites to their orbit. But its first-stage booster could not complete its landing. Every first stage booster of Falcon-9 lands on a SpaceX drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean 8.5 minutes after launch. This time it did not happen and the booster overturned shortly after. The landing video showed flames coming out of the base of the booster just before it fell.

This incident is shocking and disappointing, because no one would have expected such a thing from a reusable rocket. This booster has made 23 flights so far and has also carried astronauts into space.

SpaceX has not yet declared its booster dead. In a social media post, the company said that it is assessing the booster’s flight data and its condition. SpaceX also planned to launch a Starlink mission on Thursday, but the mission has been postponed after Wednesday’s accident.

The accident has also raised concerns for the Polaris Dawn mission, which is scheduled to launch on August 30. The Polaris mission will mark the first time a private commercial spacewalk will be conducted in space.