SpaceX breaks silence after engine destruction and announces cause of accident

After an anomaly on the Falcon 9’s last launch resulted in an engine RUD, SpaceX said it managed to successfully “safeguard” the second stage. The Merlin 1D engine on the Falcon 9’s second stage suffered a RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly), or was destroyed in space, after failing to initiate a burn to raise the rocket’s orbit. In a statement released today, SpaceX said a leak in the liquid oxygen tank on the Falcon 9’s second stage caused the accident, and explained that the second stage managed to “safeguard” the second stage.passivate” itself based on the parameters at the end of each mission.

SpaceX emphasizes that the second stage of the Falcon 9 was shut down normally after the engine rudder event

The Falcon 9’s rare failure, seven years after its last accident, also comes as SpaceX has been pushing the limits of its first stage and launch manifest. Throughout this year, company executives have stressed that they want to fly at least 140 missions in 2024 – a new record and an average of about three launches per week. But with the Falcon 9 currently grounded pending an FAA investigation, SpaceX is unlikely to meet that goal, although the company has launched 70 missions so far, putting it almost on track to meet its target by the end of the first half of 2024.

Unlike Musk’s comments shortly after the anomaly, in which he said the Falcon 9’s second stage engine had suffered a RUD, SpaceX’s statement is benign. In it, the company says that while the second stage Merlin vacuum engine successfully ignited after stage separation, it “fired” during the second burn to raise the rocket’s orbit.experienced an anomaly and could not “Finish” the burning process.

The next part highlights that the second phase is “survived” and was able to deploy the satellite, but remained silent about the condition of the engine after the ‘anomaly’.

SpaceX adds that it successfully “passivated” the second stage according to the parameters it follows after each mission. Passivation is similar to “safeguarding” a rocket in rocketry, where engineers must ensure that no explosive materials remain in the rocket or a second stage before it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

Since the second stage was designed to perform a second burn, it is likely that kerosene was present in it after the anomaly, which SpaceX said occurred due to a liquid oxygen leak. Passivation ensures that the rocket or a satellite does not explode during re-entry and rain debris down on Earth.

As for the Starlink satellites, SpaceX stresses that they pose no threat to the public or other spacecraft in orbit. The engine failure marks the end of the company’s record-breaking 364 successful Falcon 9 first and second stage launches – the first in human history. With the rocket grounded by the FAA for now, key NASA crew and cargo missions, as well as SpaceX’s upcoming private space mission under the Polaris program, are now in limbo.