Get the latest tech news

SpaceX roars back to orbit barely two weeks after in-flight anomaly


"It was incredible to see how quickly the team was able to identify the cause of the mishap."

Then, a little more than an hour after liftoff, the rocket's second stage released its payload into a good orbit, from which the Starlink spacecraft will use their on-board thrusters to reach operational altitudes in the coming weeks. The Falcon 9 rocket only failed a little more than 15 days ago, during a Starlink launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 7:35 pm PDT (02:35 UTC) on July 11. This leak excessively cooled the engine, and caused a lower amount of igniter fluid to be available prior to re-lighting the Merlin for its second burn to circularize the rocket's orbit before releasing the Starlink satellites.

Get the Android app

Or read this on r/technology

Read more on:

Photo of Weeks

Weeks

Photo of Flight

Flight

Photo of SpaceX

SpaceX

Related news:

News photo

Boeing Starliner Astronauts Have Been In Space Six Weeks Longer Than Originally Planned

News photo

SpaceX says it’s fixed the Falcon 9 and will resume launches tomorrow

News photo

SpaceX cleared to resume Falcon 9 launches while FAA investigation remains open