SpaceX Breaks Silence After Engine Destroys, Reveals Reason for Accident

After an anomaly caused the engine to RUD during its latest Falcon 9 launch, SpaceX announced that it had successfully “safed” the second stage. The Merlin 1D engine on the Falcon 9’s second stage underwent a RUD (rapid unplanned disassembly), or was destroyed in space, after failing to initiate a burn to raise the rocket to orbit. In a statement earlier today, SpaceX said a leak in the Falcon 9’s second stage liquid oxygen tank caused the accident and noted that the second stage had successfully “safed” the engine.passivate” itself based on the parameters at the end of each mission.

SpaceX stresses Falcon 9 second stage was eliminated normally after engine RUD

The rare failure of the Falcon 9, seven years after its last accident, also comes at a time when SpaceX has been looking to push the limits of its first-stage boosters and launch manifest. Over the course of this year, company executives have stressed that they aim to fly at least 140 missions in 2024 — a new record and an average of about three launches per week. However, with the Falcon 9 now grounded pending an FAA investigation, SpaceX is unlikely to meet that goal despite having launched 70 missions to date, keeping it nearly on track to reach its goal by the end of the first half of 2024.

Unlike Musk’s comments made shortly after the anomaly, which indicated that the Falcon 9’s second stage engine had suffered a RUD, SpaceX’s statement is benign. In it, the company says that while the second stage’s Merlin vacuum engine successfully ignited after stage separation, during the second burn to raise the rocket to orbit, it “encountered an anomaly and was unable to “finish” the burn.

The following passage emphasizes that, although the second step “Survived” and was able to deploy the satellite, but he remains silent on the condition of the engine after its “anomaly”.

SpaceX says it has successfully “passivated” the second stage according to parameters monitored after each mission. Passivation, in rocketry, is analogous to “safeguarding” a rocket. It requires engineers to ensure that no explosive material remains inside the rocket or a second stage before it enters Earth’s atmosphere.

Since the second stage was scheduled to perform a second burn, it is likely that jet fuel was present inside after the anomaly, which SpaceX says occurred due to a liquid oxygen leak. Passivation ensures that the rocket or a satellite does not explode upon reentry and rain debris to Earth.

As for the Starlink satellites, SpaceX has stressed that they pose no threat to the public or other spacecraft in orbit. The engine failure marks the end of the company’s record 364 successful launches of the Falcon 9 first and second stages, a first in human history. With the rocket grounded by the FAA for now, NASA’s key crewed and cargo missions, as well as SpaceX’s next private mission to space with the Polaris program, are now on hold.