A recent incident involving a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage has raised concerns over the company’s safety procedures. The upper stage, launched on February 1 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, suffered a propellant leak that prevented it from performing a controlled reentry over the ocean.
Despite deploying its payload of 22 Starlink satellites successfully, the upper stage remained in orbit and eventually reentered over Europe due to atmospheric drag. Debris from the stage fell in Poland, causing only minor damage, such as a broken light fixture.
SpaceX has attributed the leak to a liquid oxygen problem, stating that it drove higher-than-expected vehicle body rates. The company passivated the upper stage by venting propellant tanks and discharging batteries, rather than performing a deorbit burn.
This incident is the third in a little over six months, following similar anomalies during the July 2024 Starlink launch and the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station in September. SpaceX has faced criticism from safety experts, who have pointed out that the pace of operations and aging hardware may be contributing to these incidents.
The Federal Aviation Administration has given its approval for Falcon 9 launches to resume after investigating the issue, but SpaceX has promised to investigate further and implement mitigations for future flights.
Kent Rominger, a former astronaut and member of NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, expressed concerns that the recent incidents highlight the need for attention to detail when operating safely. “When you look at these recent incidents over the last handful of weeks, it does lead one say that it’s apparent that operating safely requires significant attention to detail as hardware ages and the pace of operations increases,” Rominger said.
The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of safety in space exploration and highlights SpaceX’s need for vigilance in addressing these issues.
Source: https://spacenews.com/propellant-leak-blamed-for-falcon-9-upper-stage-uncontrolled-reentry