The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced on Friday that the SpaceX Falcon 9 spacecraft may resume flying operations while the general investigation into the anomaly on a recent Starlink mission is still ongoing.
SpaceX requested permission for the workhorse spacecraft to resume to flight on Thursday, and the FAA granted it on Friday. Flights can resume “as long as all other license requirements are met,” the government stated.
Following an unsuccessful effort to return to Earth on a regular Starlink flight, the Falcon 9 was grounded by the FAA on Wednesday, marking the company’s second grounding of the year. Early on Wednesday, a group of Starlink broadband satellites were successfully launched into orbit from Florida by SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
After returning to Earth, the rocket’s reusable first stage booster attempted a routine landing on a seagoing barge, but after a violent touchdown, it overturned into the water.
It is uncommon for the Falcon 9 rocket, which is used by much of the Western world to launch satellites and people into space, to be grounded. The rocket was previously grounded in July for the first time since 2016, as a result of a spacecraft failure in its second stage that ultimately resulted in the loss of many Starlink satellites.
After the FAA approved SpaceX’s request for an accelerated return to flight, the firm was able to get Falcon 9 back into the air fifteen days after the grounding in July.
In addition, two NASA astronauts scheduled to fly on a Crew Dragon spacecraft by Falcon 9 in late September will return the two astronauts to Earth the following year after they were stranded there after traveling on Boeing’s problematic Starliner spacecraft.
Since the launch of the Falcon rocket in 2010, SpaceX has amassed a substantial fleet of reusable boosters, which has enabled the business to significantly surpass its competitors in terms of launch frequency.
Shortly after the flight on Wednesday, a second Starlink mission was scheduled to take out from SpaceX’s other launch facility in southern California; however, the mission was canceled due to the unsuccessful landing.
