A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Crew-9 mission on September 28. NASA
By Mike Wall,
Published by Space.com, 12 October 2024
‘The FAA notified SpaceX on Oct. 11 that the Falcon 9 vehicle is authorized to return to regular flight operations.’
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket a green light to return to flight.
The Falcon 9 had been grounded since Sept. 28, when the rocket suffered an issue with its upper stage during the launch of the Crew-9 astronaut mission for NASA. (A Falcon 9 did launch Europe’s Hera asteroid-inspection probe on Oct. 7, but that was a one-time exception granted by the FAA.)
“The FAA notified SpaceX on Oct. 11 that the Falcon 9 vehicle is authorized to return to regular flight operations,” agency officials said in an emailed statement on Friday afternoon. “The FAA reviewed and accepted the SpaceX-led investigation findings and corrective actions for the mishap that occurred with the Crew-9 mission (Sept. 28).”
The Crew-9 incident — which did not affect mission success but did result in the upper stage falling back to Earth outside its planned disposal area — was the third Falcon 9 issue in less than three months.
The first occurred on July 11, when an upper-stage propellant leak led to the loss of 20 of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites. The Falcon 9 was grounded for about two weeks as a result. Then, on Aug. 28, a Falcon 9 first stage failed to land safely after a successful Starlink launch. The rocket was flying again just three days later.
In its statement on Friday, the FAA said that it has “closed the SpaceX-led investigations for the Falcon 9 mishaps that occurred” on those two missions.
See: Original Article
