SpaceX
SpaceX: rocket that took satellites into space tips over and explodes when trying to land
The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded while trying to land on a drone ferry in the Atlantic Ocean. Shortly before completing the descent, the propeller tipped over, falling into the sea. The incident occurred on the night of the 27th.
This is the first time since February 2021 that Elon Musk's company has failed to recover one of its reusable thrusters. The company is the only one to use rocket stage propellants that can be recovered after launch - a very important development in aerospace.
On X, formerly Twitter, SpaceX posted that "after a successful ascent, the Falcon 9 first stage booster tipped over after landing on the drone raft. Teams are accessing the booster data and flight status."
In the live broadcast of the launch, it was possible to observe the descent of the propellant and then the start of the fire. Shortly after, the rocket tipped over, causing an explosion visible in the video.
Then, SpaceX chose to momentarily abandon the launch of another Starlink mission that would take off later. The idea was to give the team more time to review landing data from the booster used on the previous Falcon 9.