The problem seems to have been a leak in the liquid oxygen system (thus the ice). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is requiring an investigation and report from SpaceX before approving further flights, making it unlikely we will see any more Falcon 9 launches in July. The privately-funded Polaris Dawn manned mission scheduled for the end of July will likely be delayed as well. The original Elon Musk statement about an explosion seems to have been toned down somewhat.

(earlier) A deep fog launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink satellites, including 13 Direct-to-Cell, to low-Earth orbit. The booster lands on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" out in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately the restart of the second-stage engine about 52 minutes after launch resulted in an explosion (RUD) and the satellites did not reach a proper orbit under main engine power.

#spacex #falcon9 #elonmusk #starlink #space #rockets #vandenberg #droneship #shorts

credit: SpaceX

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