{"id":785686,"date":"2024-07-12T15:39:56","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T20:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=785686"},"modified":"2024-07-12T15:39:56","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T20:39:56","slug":"falling-starlink-satellites-falcon-9-failure-and-grounding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=785686","title":{"rendered":"Falling Starlink satellites, Falcon 9 failure and grounding"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A Starlink satellite launch on a Falcon 9 on July 3, 2024, from Florida. On July 11, 2024, another Falcon 9 \u2013 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California \u2013 malfunctioned critically. It failed to raise its cargo of 20 Starlink satellites to their proper orbit. Keep an eye out for falling Starlink satellites. Meanwhile, the FAA has grounded the Falcon 9. Image via SpaceX.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rare Falcon 9 \u2018RUD\u2019 puts Starlink mini-satellites in bad orbit<\/h3>\n

An engine on a space-bound Falcon 9 lift vehicle exploded unexpectedly Thursday night (July 11, 2024). The malfunction happened about an hour after liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:25 p.m. PDT (02:25 UTC on July 12). It left the rocket ship\u2019s cargo \u2013 20 Starlink v.2 mini satellites \u2013 unable to reach their intended orbit. The rare failure means skywatchers should start looking for falling Starlink debris.<\/p>\n

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced the RUD \u2013 euphemistic company jargon for a \u201crapid unplanned disassembly\u201d \u2013 on X.com (formerly Twitter):<\/p>\n

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Upper stage restart to raise perigee resulted in an engine RUD for reasons currently unknown. Team is reviewing data tonight to understand root cause.<\/p>\n

Starlink satellites were deployed, but the perigee may be too low for them to raise orbit. Will know more in a few hours.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

SpaceX said in a statement that a leak in the vehicle\u2019s second stage engine caused the malfunction:<\/p>\n

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Falcon 9\u2019s second stage performed its first burn nominally, however a liquid oxygen leak developed on the second stage. After a planned relight of the upper stage engine to raise perigee \u2013 or the lowest point of orbit \u2013 the Merlin Vacuum engine experienced an anomaly and was unable to complete its second burn.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The British news agency Reuters reported it was the first failure of a SpaceX Falcon 9 in seven years. Until Wednesday\u2019s failure, the Falcon 9 flew 364 successful missions.<\/p>\n

Luckless satellites are falling to Earth fast<\/h3>\n

SpaceX officials said via X.com they were able to regain communication with some of the satellites. Then controllers sent instructions to fire onboard thrusters to raise their low orbits. They company said it wasn\u2019t counting on success:<\/p>\n

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The team made contact with 10 of the satellites and attempted to have them raise orbit using their ion thrusters, but they are in an enormously high-drag environment with their perigee, or lowest point of their elliptical orbit, only 135 km above the Earth<\/p>\n

\u2014 SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 12, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Unless the satellites can gain enough speed, they will tumble into a fiery re-entry. CEO Musk was more blunt about the likelihood of recovery. He tweeted his pessimism:<\/p>\n

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We\u2019re updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9. Unlike a Star Trek episode, this will probably not work, but it\u2019s worth a shot.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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We\u2019re updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9. <\/p>\n

Unlike a Star Trek episode, this will probably not work, but it\u2019s worth a shot.<\/p>\n

The satellite thrusters need to raise orbit faster than atmospheric drag pulls them down or they burn up.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Falcon 9 grounded by FAA until problem fixed<\/h3>\n

The Associated Press reported the company must fix the engine problem before the Falcon 9 can fly again. The will likely set the company scrambling, as their launch calendar is crammed.<\/p>\n

The next scheduled flight of the Falcon 9 was to happen in mid-July. It\u2019s now on hold. The vehicle was to carry Space Norway\u2019s pair of Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission satellite constellations to orbit. The satellites \u2013 made by Northrop Grumman \u2013 will provide commercial broadband and protected military communications.<\/p>\n

The presumably temporary loss of the Falcon 9 sent the aerospace company into spin mode. Their statement on the incident says they expect a quick return to flight:<\/p>\n

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SpaceX will perform a full investigation in coordination with the FAA, determine root cause, and make corrective actions to ensure the success of future missions. With a robust satellite and rocket production capability, and a high launch cadence, we\u2019re positioned to rapidly recover and continue our pace as the world\u2019s most active launch services provider.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The FAA said a full fix and perhaps a new license will be required to get the Falcon 9 flying:<\/p>\n

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A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety. In addition, SpaceX may need to request and receive approval from the FAA to modify its license that incorporates any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As of July 12, 2024, SpaceX has launched the Falcon 9 70 times this year. And this accounts for more than half of the 137 orbital launches made worldwide this year.<\/p>\n

Scan the skies for falling Starlink satellites soon<\/h3>\n

Each time the doomed satellites pass closest to Earth, they lose about 3.1 miles (5 km) of altitude. The drag of the planet\u2019s atmosphere is slowing them down. And inevitably it will bring them down.<\/p>\n

According to the AP report on the incident, SpaceX has not given a time when the falling Starlink satellites will begin re-entering. Unconfirmed rumors on X.com say to expect them within three days.<\/p>\n

When a falling Starlink satellite burns, it does so messily. SpaceX designed the satellites to disintegrate completely on re-entry. They said:<\/p>\n

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At this level of drag, our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites. As such, the satellites will re-enter Earth\u2019s atmosphere and fully demise. They do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The FAA doesn\u2019t agree. In a 2023 report to Congress, the agency said falling Starlink debris could kill or maim:<\/p>\n

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By 2035, if the expected large constellation growth is realized and debris from Starlink satellites survive reentry, the total number of hazardous fragments surviving reentries each year is expected to reach 28,000, and the casualty expectation, the number of individuals on the ground predicted to be injured or killed by debris surviving the reentries of satellites being disposed from these constellations, would be 0.6 per year, which means that one person on the planet would be expected to be injured or killed every two years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

CNN reported SpaceX called the FAA\u2019s assertion \u201cpreposterous, unjustified, and inaccurate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Falling Starlink satellites aren\u2019t new<\/h3>\n

More than 6,000 Starlink satellites are currently in low Earth orbit. Starlink satellites have failed to reach their intended orbit before. In 2022, 40 Starlink satellites made an early reentry when a geomagnetic storm hit the day after their launch, increasing their drag. Here\u2019s a video of a Starlink satellite reentering over Puerto Rico, to give you an idea of what to look for.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: A SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying a cargo of Starlink satellites failed to reach proper orbit. The falling Starlink are expected to make fiery re-entry within days.<\/p>\n

Read more: List of SpaceX Starlink launches for July 2024<\/p>\n

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Dave Adalian<\/h4>\n

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About the Author:<\/h6>\n

Award-winning reporter and editor Dave Adalian’s love affair with the cosmos began during a long-ago summer school trip to the storied and venerable Lick Observatory atop California’s Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose in the foggy Diablos Mountain Range and far above Monterey Bay at the edge of the endless blue Pacific Ocean. That field trip goes on today, as Dave still pursues his nocturnal adventures, perched in the darkness at his telescope’s eyepiece or chasing wandering stars through the fields of night with the unaided eye.
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\nA lifelong resident of California’s Tulare County – an agricultural paradise where the Great San Joaquin Valley meets the Sierra Nevada in endless miles of grass-covered foothills – Dave grew up in a wilderness larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined, one choked with the greatest diversity of flora and fauna in the US, one which passes its nights beneath pitch black skies rising over the some of highest mountain peaks and greatest roadless areas on the North American continent.
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\nDave studied English, American literature and mass communications at the College of the Sequoias and the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has worked as a reporter and editor for a number of news publications on- and offline during a career spanning nearly 30 years so far. His fondest literary hope is to share his passion for astronomy and all things cosmic with anyone who wants to join in the adventure and explore the universe’s past, present and future.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n