Mr. Musk, we have a problem.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully sent its first human flight last week to the International Space Station, but a glitch with the rocket’s second stage forced the company to scrub future launches for now. [Last month, a Falcon 9 endured a fiery landing during a Starlink mission. A third incident occurred in July.]
“After (Saturday’s) successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9’s second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn,” SpaceX posted on X. “As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area. We will resume launching after we better understand root cause.”
After years of successful launchings and landings of its rockets, including more than 90 this year, SpaceX has been forthright about its misfires since July. “Safety and reliability are at the core of SpaceX’s operations. It would not have been possible to achieve our current cadence without this focus, and thanks to the pace we’ve been able to launch, we’re able to gather unprecedented levels of flight data and are poised to rapidly return to flight, safely and with increased reliability,” SpaceX posted after the July incident.
A planned launch Sunday of a Falcon 9 from California is the first victim of a shutdown. Beyond that, the status of a Falcon Heavy launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper to send a massive satellite to Jupiter’s moon Europa, as soon as Oct. 10, is up in the air.
So, where do SpaceX and — more importantly — the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) go from here?
A handful of companies could emerge as alternatives if the FAA takes a long break from SpaceX. Here are a few generating buzz:
United Launch Alliance (ULA). A joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., it boasts more than 150 straight launches without failure. The second flight of ULA’s Vulcan rocket, scheduled early Friday, is essential in establishing the launcher’s reliability in delivering U.S. military satellites into space.
Rocket Lab USA. The company’s Electron rocket, which provides launch services for small satellites with payloads of up to 300 kg, has worked with NASA, DARPA, the U.S. Air Force Space Test Program and others. Rocket Lab charges a relatively inexpensive $5 million per flight, equal to about $10,000 per pound of payload. The approach seems to work: Company shares jumped 55% in September after it made its 11th launch of the year and brought aboard respected auto executive Frank Klein as chief operations officer.
Northrop Grumman. The venerable aerospace and defense technology giant, founded in 1939, provides launch services for its own Antares rocket and the Minotaur family of rockets. Northrop also recently beat out Raytheon for production of a new missile that will be able to knock out hypersonic threats in midair.
Astra Space Inc. The 8-year-old Astra offers launch services for payloads of up to 500 kg from two U.S. spaceports. Two years ago, it successfully delivered payloads into LEO for the first time – becoming the fastest company to reach that milestone.
Blue Origin Enterprises. Amazon.com Inc. co-founder Jeff Bezos’ company aims to transport humans and cargo into space. The company’s New Glenn rocket, a rival to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, took a large leap forward in September with a successful second-stage hot-fire test as it heads for its first orbital launch in November.
Relativity Space Inc. The company’s Terran 1 rocket, the world’s first 3D-printed launcher, is a competitor of Falcon 9, and is designed to launch with more than 20,000 kg to LEO. The company also incorporates AI and autonomous robotics to manufacture its models.
ABL Space Systems. Like SpaceX, the California-based startup is reeling from a recent misfire. Its Rs1 rocket suffered a pre-flight static fire test in July from Alaska.
“After a pre-flight static fire test on Friday, a residual pad fire caused irrecoverable damage to RS1. The team is investigating root cause and will provide updates as the investigation progresses,” ABL said in a post on X on July 22.
