An abnormal event occurred in the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket and the satellite could not be placed in orbit as planned. Space Gate website |

On July 12, 2024 (Japan time), the private American space company SpaceX announced a malfunction in the second stage of its Falcon 9 rocket, which was launched on the same day, and the satellite on board revealed that it could not be launched into orbit as planned.[آخر تحديث: 12 يوليو 2024، الساعة 16:00]

According to SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk, it is equipped with 20 communications satellites (Constellation 9-3, 13 of which support direct cell communication) for the company's Starlink satellite communications service, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA at 11:35 on July 12, 2024. The first stage successfully landed on the drone ship about 8 minutes after launch, and the second stage completed its first engine burn about 8 minutes and 40 seconds after launch.

However, during the second engine burn to increase the perigee height of the second stage, for some reason the engine experienced a RUD (from Musk’s site on X). RUD stands for “rapid unscheduled (or unplanned) disassembly,” a term used to indicate that the aircraft has been disassembled due to an explosion or grounding. As a result of the RUD, the second stage’s second engine burn was not completed successfully, and the Starlink satellite on board was placed in a lower orbit than planned.

According to SpaceX and Mr. Musk, as of 2:37 p.m. the same day, communications had been established with at least five of the launched Starlink satellites, and their onboard ion engines had been activated before they lost altitude due to atmospheric resistance and attempts were being made to use them to gain altitude. “It probably won’t work, but it’s worth a try,” Musk posted on X.

The Falcon 9 rocket, operated by SpaceX, is used for a variety of missions including the Crew Dragon crewed spacecraft, and launches are frequent. Of the Falcon Heavy derivative, 96 launches were made in 2023, and this was the 70th in 2024. The last time there was a major in-flight problem was the failed launch of the Dragon 7 supply ship in June 2015, and if you include pre-launch problems, it was the AMOS-6 communications satellite in September 2016. That’s since the loss (excluding the first-stage aircraft’s failed landing).

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・Falcon 9 rocket launch failure problem in second stage aircraft (June 29, 2015)
・SpaceX rocket explodes unexpectedly. Amos-6 satellite lost during launch test (September 2, 2016)

The cause of the malfunction in the second stage engine of this Falcon 9 rocket is currently unknown, and until the cause is investigated and countermeasures are completed, the launch schedule, including human spaceflight missions, may be affected.

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