SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster engine failed during a July 11 launch, potentially causing the loss of a group of Starlink satellites and having ramifications for the space industry. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:35 p.m. The rocket carried 20 Starlink satellites, 13 of which had direct communications payloads, in a mission called SpaceX Group 9-3.

The rocket’s launch into orbit appeared to be going according to plan, with the first stage executing a typical drone landing. However, during the initial second stage burn, observers noticed an unusual buildup of ice on the cowling around the Merlin engine. This buildup, not seen in typical Falcon 9 launches, did not appear to affect stage performance.

At 52 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff, the stage was scheduled to perform a one-second engine run to enter orbit and then deploy the Starlink satellites. SpaceX, which wrapped up its launch live stream, did not confirm any of these milestones.

“The restart of the upper stage to lift off the afterburner resulted in a RUD in the engine for reasons currently unknown,” SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk wrote on social media two hours after the launch. “RUD” is SpaceX’s jargon for “rapid unplanned disintegration” or explosion.

“Starlink satellites have been deployed, but perigee may be too low for them to enter orbit. We’ll know more in a few hours,” Musk added.

Astronomer and spaceflight expert Jonathan McDowell estimated that the launch placed the upper stage into an initial transition orbit of 138 x 295 kilometers before a second circular burn. The engine anomaly during this short burn will determine the satellites’ perigee and therefore whether they can avoid immediate re-entry.

The incident was the first partial or complete failure of the Falcon since a cushion explosion destroyed the rocket and a communications satellite during pre-flight testing in September 2016. The Falcon 9’s last in-flight failure occurred in June 2015, when the upper stage collapsed during the launch of the Dragon cargo spacecraft.

Since then, the Falcon 9 has had an impressive track record. This was the 354th Falcon 9 launch; an in-flight failure occurred during the 19th launch of the Falcon 9 in June 2015. During this time, there have also been 10 successful launches of the Falcon Heavy.

The global space industry is increasingly relying on the Falcon 9 for access to space due to its high flight speed and the challenges of developing new launch vehicles. Many countries and companies have turned to the Falcon 9 to launch spacecraft, including SpaceX’s Starlink group and companies competing with European government organizations.

The anomaly also has implications for human spaceflight. The Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft in late July as part of the astronauts’ dedicated Polaris Dawn mission, and another Crew Dragon mission is planned for mid-August as part of the Crew-9 mission to deliver four astronauts to the International Space Station. a six-month mission. NASA has relied on SpaceX for access to the ISS due to delays and development issues with the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.