SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are looking into a recent mistake that resulted in 20 Starlink satellites falling back to Earth. On July 11, the event occurred during the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The rocket’s first stage behaved as predicted, separating and landing safely on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. However, a liquid oxygen leak in the second stage prevented it from completing its second burn, therefore the satellites were launched at an altitude of around 84 miles, much below the planned perigee.
SpaceX labored overnight to contact the satellites and send early burn commands to rectify their orbits, but the available thrust proved insufficient. As a result, all 20 satellites reentered Earth’s atmosphere and burned up on July 12.
Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell confirmed that the satellites had been destroyed. SpaceX acknowledged the technical constraints of spaceflight and noted that a thorough investigation is currently underway under the FAA’s supervision.
Before SpaceX can return to fly, the FAA must accept its final report, which includes corrective actions. This is the first Falcon 9 launch failure since 2016, and the largest loss of Starlink satellites in more than two years.
