SpaceX Falcon 9 set for comeback after upper-stage failure
(2024/07/26)
- Reference: 1722015496
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/07/26/spacex_falcon_9_flight/
- Source link:
SpaceX aims to resume launching the Falcon 9 rocket tomorrow after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) agreed to let the company return to flight operations.
An FAA spokesperson told The Register : "After a comprehensive review, the FAA determined no public safety issues were involved in the anomaly that occurred during the SpaceX Starlink Group 9-3 launch on July 11.
"This public safety determination means the Falcon 9 vehicle may return to flight operations while the overall investigation remains open, provided all other license requirements are met."
[1]
[2]SpaceX made a public safety determination request on July 15 following an upper-stage mishap earlier this month. The FAA spent a few days considering it and determined there wasn't a risk to public safety – so Elon Musk's rocketeers could continue launching their rockets while the overall investigation rumbled on.
[3]
[4]
SpaceX [5]posted an explanation of the incident. The upper-stage leak, which was clearly visible during the mission broadcast, was identified as a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle's oxygen system. This resulted in the spewing of oxygen around the upper-stage engine.
"This line cracked due to fatigue caused by high loading from engine vibration and looseness in the clamp that normally constrains the line," according to SpaceX.
[6]SpaceX asks the FAA: 'Can we launch our rockets again, please?'
[7]SpaceX's Falcon anomaly could have serious implications for the space industry
[8]SpaceX hit by inflight Falcon 9 failure
[9]Elon Musk to destroy the International Space Station – with NASA's approval, for a fee
The first burn of the engine went fine, but the liquid oxygen leak resulted in what SpaceX described as "excessive cooling" of engine components, such that when the engine was restarted to circularize the orbit before deployment of the satellites, there was an explosion.
Even following the "hard start" and a loss of attitude control, the stage was still able to deploy the satellites (just into the wrong orbit) and passivate itself.
[10]
The solution? Get rid of the line and sensor. SpaceX said: "For near term Falcon launches, the failed sense line and sensor on the second stage engine will be removed. The sensor is not used by the flight safety system and can be covered by alternate sensors already present on the engine."
Thus, [11]according to SpaceX , it is "poised to rapidly return to flight as soon as Saturday, July 27."
The Register asked NASA if this return to flight would include humans launched on behalf of the agency but were told that an announcement would be made later today. Making a change in a human-rated system would raise a few eyebrows, assuming the upper-stage that experienced the mishap was of the same design as that used to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
[12]
The next launch of the Crew Dragon is set for August. As for the other imminent crewed mission on SpaceX's books – Polaris Dawn – the mission's commander, Jared Isaacman, paid tribute to the efforts of Musk's rocket company but [13]noted : "Turns out we have a little bit of time before Polaris Dawn launches." ®
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[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/17/spacex_ask_faa_rocket_launch/
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[5] https://www.spacex.com/updates/#falcon-9-returns-to-flight
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/17/spacex_ask_faa_rocket_launch/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/15/spacex_faa_probe/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/12/spacex_suffers_an_inflight_falcon/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/27/spacex_wins_iss_deorbit_contract/
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[11] https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1816599564402737658
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[13] https://x.com/rookisaacman/status/1816574278436782392
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
An FAA spokesperson told The Register : "After a comprehensive review, the FAA determined no public safety issues were involved in the anomaly that occurred during the SpaceX Starlink Group 9-3 launch on July 11.
"This public safety determination means the Falcon 9 vehicle may return to flight operations while the overall investigation remains open, provided all other license requirements are met."
[1]
[2]SpaceX made a public safety determination request on July 15 following an upper-stage mishap earlier this month. The FAA spent a few days considering it and determined there wasn't a risk to public safety – so Elon Musk's rocketeers could continue launching their rockets while the overall investigation rumbled on.
[3]
[4]
SpaceX [5]posted an explanation of the incident. The upper-stage leak, which was clearly visible during the mission broadcast, was identified as a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle's oxygen system. This resulted in the spewing of oxygen around the upper-stage engine.
"This line cracked due to fatigue caused by high loading from engine vibration and looseness in the clamp that normally constrains the line," according to SpaceX.
[6]SpaceX asks the FAA: 'Can we launch our rockets again, please?'
[7]SpaceX's Falcon anomaly could have serious implications for the space industry
[8]SpaceX hit by inflight Falcon 9 failure
[9]Elon Musk to destroy the International Space Station – with NASA's approval, for a fee
The first burn of the engine went fine, but the liquid oxygen leak resulted in what SpaceX described as "excessive cooling" of engine components, such that when the engine was restarted to circularize the orbit before deployment of the satellites, there was an explosion.
Even following the "hard start" and a loss of attitude control, the stage was still able to deploy the satellites (just into the wrong orbit) and passivate itself.
[10]
The solution? Get rid of the line and sensor. SpaceX said: "For near term Falcon launches, the failed sense line and sensor on the second stage engine will be removed. The sensor is not used by the flight safety system and can be covered by alternate sensors already present on the engine."
Thus, [11]according to SpaceX , it is "poised to rapidly return to flight as soon as Saturday, July 27."
The Register asked NASA if this return to flight would include humans launched on behalf of the agency but were told that an announcement would be made later today. Making a change in a human-rated system would raise a few eyebrows, assuming the upper-stage that experienced the mishap was of the same design as that used to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
[12]
The next launch of the Crew Dragon is set for August. As for the other imminent crewed mission on SpaceX's books – Polaris Dawn – the mission's commander, Jared Isaacman, paid tribute to the efforts of Musk's rocket company but [13]noted : "Turns out we have a little bit of time before Polaris Dawn launches." ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZqQch77jJLVL8IcZCHhdhgAAAQs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/17/spacex_ask_faa_rocket_launch/
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[5] https://www.spacex.com/updates/#falcon-9-returns-to-flight
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/17/spacex_ask_faa_rocket_launch/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/15/spacex_faa_probe/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/12/spacex_suffers_an_inflight_falcon/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/27/spacex_wins_iss_deorbit_contract/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZqQch77jJLVL8IcZCHhdhgAAAQs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1816599564402737658
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZqQch77jJLVL8IcZCHhdhgAAAQs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://x.com/rookisaacman/status/1816574278436782392
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
F.T.A.
amajadedcynicaloldfart
"For near term Falcon launches, the failed sense line and sensor on the second stage engine will be removed. The sensor is not used by the flight safety system and can be covered by alternate sensors already present on the engine."
So, why was it installed in the first place? What (probably bleeding obvious to everyone else) have I missed?
Sigh
“This particular line failed, so we remove it because we don’t need this one”. Idiot. The line failed because it hadn’t been secured properly, and metal fatigued. That’s a failure of process and inspection. *Any* of the lines could have been forgotten, just happened to be this one. Removing one line, fixes nothing.
It’s exactly as bad as Ariane 6 “the APU failed on the second re-light, so missions that only require the APU to light once are unaffected”. Or Boeing Starliner “it’s fine to launch with one failed power unit, because there’s a redundant one which would have taken over had this occurred after launch”
It seems the stupid is really infectious this month.