An investigation into the engine failure could delay SpaceX's upcoming crew launches.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket suffered an upper stage engine failure and deployed a batch of Starlink internet satellites into a perilously low orbit after launch from California Thursday night, the first blemish on the workhorse launcher’s record in more than 300 missions since 2016.

  • Admiral PatrickOPEnglish
    19•2 months ago

    Going into Thursday’s mission, the current version of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, known as the Falcon 9 Block 5, was indisputably the most reliable launch vehicle in history. Since debuting in May 2018, the Falcon 9 Block 5, which NASA has certified for astronaut flights, never had a mission failure in all of its 297 launches before the ill-fated Starlink 9-3 mission.

    Assuming the Starlink satellites can’t be saved, and if Thursday night’s launch is scored a complete mission failure, the Falcon 9 Block 5 still has a 99.7 percent success rate. This is still an enviable number for any launch company.

    99.7% success rate is still pretty damn impressive.