Dramatic video footage shows how a SpaceX rocket booster tipped over in flames on its return to Earth.
It brings an end to a remarkable run of over 200 successful landings for the commercial space company, and was this particular booster’s 23rd launch.
SpaceX said: ‘After a successful ascent, Falcon 9’s first stage booster tipped over following touchdown on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship.
‘Teams are assessing the booster’s flight data and status. This was the booster’s 23rd launch.’
The booster was meant to land back on the ship off the US East coast so that it could be reused, significantly reducing the cost of space launches.
But this time it didn’t manage, though SpaceX said the main rocket itself had a successful launch, and still deployed its intended payload of Starlink satellites.
It comes amid a week of setbacks for SpaceX, which has had to delay its historic crewed Polaris Dawn mission.
The mission is set to include the first-ever spacewalk by anyone other than government astronauts, and was due to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Monday.
It was pushed a day later for more checks, and then didn’t go ahead yesterday due to a helium leak.
Today, the company said bad weather meant the launch would be pushed back still futher: ‘Due to unfavorable weather forecasted in Dragon’s splashdown areas off the coast of Florida, we are now standing down from tonight and tomorrow’s Falcon 9 launch opportunities of Polaris Dawn.
‘Teams will continue to monitor weather for favorable launch and return conditions.’
When the launch does take place, crew members, including billionaire Jared Isaacman, will don SpaceX’s new, slimline spacesuits in a vehicle modified so it can open its hatch door in the vacuum of space, removing the need for an airlock.
Retired NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman said: ‘They’re pushing the envelope in multiple ways.
‘They’re also going to a much higher altitude, with a more severe radiation environment than we’ve been to since Apollo.’
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