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SpaceX has confirmed that the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket crashed on a landing barge after helping to deploy Starlink satellites.
The company said that the booster stage “tipped over” soon after touching down on the autonomous A Shortfall of Gravitas ship. Video (not pictured here) showed a erupting flames and a collapsing landing leg. Team members are examining the rocket’s data to help pinpoint a cause.
The second stage successfully put the satellites in orbit, but SpaceX halted its second Starlink mission for the night as a precaution. A new launch date will come “once available,” the firm added.
After a successful ascent, Falcon 9's first stage booster tipped over following touchdown on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship. Teams are assessing the booster's flight data and status. This was the booster's 23rd launch.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 28, 2024
The stage was SpaceX’s longest-serving reusable rocket, having completed 23 launches (including this one). The company ultimately hopes to clear each Falcon 9 for 40 launches.
The incident comes just over a month after a SpaceX rocket failed in flight for the first time in nine years, and breaks a streak of 267 booster recoveries that began in February 2021. It’s not clear that there’s a pattern of problems.
The problematic Starlink mission nonetheless comes at a delicate time for SpaceX. It just got the go-ahead to return Starliner’s stranded crew in February 2025, and is on the cusp of launching Shift4’s historic Polaris Dawn mission with the first private spacewalk.
The crash investigation won’t necessarily delay other launches beyond the immediate Starlink flight. It nonetheless casts a shadow on future missions, and might raise concerns from NASA, Shift4, and other clients that depend heavily on SpaceX for their payloads. It also complicates SpaceX’s plans for expanding its satellite internet coverage.
