A SpaceX reusable booster tilted and exploded during its 23rd flight while landing on a drone ship at sea while carrying 21 Starlink satellites into orbit, the company and Spaceflight Now reported.
SpaceX said at X that, “After a successful ascent, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster tipped over after landing on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship. Teams are assessing the flight data and status of the booster.”
As Spaceflight Now reported on X: “After sending 21 Starlink satellites into orbit, Falcon 9 booster 1062, on its 23rd flight, tilted and exploded upon landing on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ It was the first failed landing of a Falcon 9 since February 2021. Watch a replay of our live broadcast.”
Space Now
SpaceX confirmed at X that Starlink’s payload had been placed into the correct orbit around Earth after the booster began its descent back to Earth.
The company later said it was “pulling back from our second @Starlink launch of the evening to give the team time to review booster landing data from the previous launch. A new target launch date will be shared as soon as it becomes available.”
The booster took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The canceled flight was scheduled to take off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base.
There was no immediate indication of the explosion’s impact on SpaceX’s rocket program.
