WASHINGTON — SpaceX is suspending launches of its Falcon 9 rocket after a problem with the deorbit burn of the upper stage on a crewed launch Sept.

SpaceX pauses Falcon 9 launches after upper stage deorbit anomaly

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2024-09-29 18:00:04

WASHINGTON — SpaceX is suspending launches of its Falcon 9 rocket after a problem with the deorbit burn of the upper stage on a crewed launch Sept. 28, the second upper stage anomaly in less than three months for the rocket.

SpaceX said in a social media post early Sept. 29 that the upper stage “experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn” during the Crew-9 mission that launched Sept. 28. “As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area.”

The company did not provide additional details on the incident but said that it would halt Falcon 9 launches for the time being. “We will resume launching after we better understand root cause.”

The burn is designed to target the reentry of the upper stage, disposing of the stage over an unpopulated region of the South Pacific Ocean to both avoid leaving the stage in orbit, where it would pose an orbital debris risk, and to prevent an uncontrolled reentry. The targeted reentry location, based on airspace and marine hazard notices, was east of New Zealand. Launch Hazard Areas map for #Crew-9 Dragon mission from CCSFS SLC-40 NET 28 Sep 17:17 UTC, alternatively 29 to 01 Oct based on issued NOTAM/NOTMAR messages. LZ1 landing for B1085.2. Stage2 debris reentry in South Pacific. https://t.co/PUxYHzfJdA pic.twitter.com/bfamyWr0ib — Raul (@Raul74Cz) September 24, 2024

Launch Hazard Areas map for #Crew-9 Dragon mission from CCSFS SLC-40 NET 28 Sep 17:17 UTC, alternatively 29 to 01 Oct based on issued NOTAM/NOTMAR messages. LZ1 landing for B1085.2. Stage2 debris reentry in South Pacific. https://t.co/PUxYHzfJdA pic.twitter.com/bfamyWr0ib — Raul (@Raul74Cz) September 24, 2024