SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Grounded Indefinitely After Missing Its Landing Spot

SpaceX may be working its Falcon 9 rocket a little too hard. The normally reliable launch vehicle suffered another malfunction and has been grounded for the second time in a month.

Falcon 9 launched the Crew-9 mission on Saturday, September 28, transporting NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the International Space Station aboard the Dragon crew capsule. After its launch, however, the rocket’s upper stage experienced an “off-nominal deorbit burn” that caused it to miss its targeted landing zone, SpaceX wrote on X.

“We will resume launching after we better understand root cause,” the company added. It’s not clear how long Falcon 9 will remain grounded, but the rocket is a staple in the industry for both private and government-owned payloads. Saturday’s liftoff marked the Falcon 9 rocket’s 89th launch of 2024 alone. SpaceX is aiming for a record-breaking 148 launches of its Falcon 9 rocket this year, topping the 98 missions of 2023.

Falcon 9 has not been living up to its typical high standards this year. The trusty medium-sized launch vehicle suffered another anomaly in late August. After delivering 21 Starlink satellites to orbit, the rocket’s booster returned to Earth to perform a landing on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. Although the booster’s descent went smoothly, it toppled over once it reached the droneship and broke apart, igniting a large fire.

The incident prompted the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to ground the rocket but Falcon 9 was back in the swing of things in no time, launching another batch of Starlink satellites three days later. August’s landing mishap ended a streak of 267 successful touchdowns and booster recoveries since February 2021.

Typically a crowd favorite, Falcon 9 disappointed its fans three different times this year alone. In July, the rocket was unable to deliver its payload of satellites to orbit due to an upper stage malfunction. The incident grounded the rocket until an investigation into the failed flight concluded around two weeks later, pinpointing an oxygen leak as the reason behind the engine malfunction.

The 135-foot-high (41 meters) rocket is capable of lifting up to 50,300 pounds (22,800 kilograms) of payload into low-Earth orbit. Since its debut in 2010, Falcon 9 has performed more than 350 missions. This recent string of mishaps is unusual for SpaceX’s workhorse, and the company has a packed schedule for the rocket, leaving little room for a breather.

Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch the European Space Agency’s Hera mission on October 7. Hopefully the rocket will have recovered by then.

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