Landing Accident Claims Falcon 9 Fleet Leader On 23rd Flight

CAPE CANAVERAL—A SpaceX Falcon 9 first-stage booster tipped over after touchdown on a drone ship on Aug. 28, ending a streak of 267 successful landings.

The rocket lifted off at 3:48 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral SFS to deliver 21 Starlink satellites into orbit. It was the 23rd mission for SpaceX’s most-flown booster and one of three that has launched more than 20 times.

After separating from the second stage, the booster flipped around, conducted planned braking burns and deployed its landing legs for touchdown on the “A Shortfall of Gravitas” drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. But after settling on the deck, the booster toppled over and was engulfed in flame, SpaceX video showed.

Following the landing mishap, SpaceX called off launch of another group of Starlink satellites due to lift off from Vandenberg SFB, California, at 4 a.m. EDT. “Standing down from our second … launch of the night to give the team time to review booster landing data from the previous launch,” SpaceX wrote in a post on the X social media site. “A new target launch date will be shared once available.”

SpaceX in April said it was working toward qualifying its fleet of Falcon boosters and fairings to support 40 missions each. “Increasing Falcon’s flight count provides valuable information on repeated reuse, a critical element for making life multiplanetary with Starship,” the company noted.

Block 5 boosters—SpaceX’s current version—were initially certified for 10 flights.

SpaceX previously called off plans to launch the Polaris Dawn mission on Aug. 28 due to weather issues. The privately funded charter, which includes what could become the first spacewalk by civilians, has been rescheduled for no earlier than Aug. 30.

“Our launch criteria are heavily constrained by forecasted splashdown weather conditions,” Polaris Dawn financier and commander Jared Isaacman wrote on X.

“With no ISS [International Space Station] rendezvous and limited life support consumables, we must be absolutely sure of reentry weather before launching. As of now, conditions are not favorable tonight or tomorrow, so we’ll assess day by day,” he wrote.

The landing mishap triggered a mandatory investigation, which will be handled by SpaceX, to ensure the incident posed no risk to public safety, the FAA said.

“The FAA is aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starlink Group 8-6 mission that launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Aug. 28. The incident involved the failure of the Falcon 9 booster rocket while landing on a droneship at sea. No public injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA is requiring an investigation,” the agency wrote in an email.

“A return to flight of the Falcon 9 booster rocket is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the anomaly does not affect public safety,” the FAA added.