The super-reliable Falcon 9 rocket experienced a rare anomaly, breaking its near-perfect track record. Its upper stage lost the engine during the orbit insertion of SpaceX’s own Starlink satellites.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 20 Starlink satellites, experienced an anomaly during the launch last night. The issue occurred during an attempt to relight the Merlin engine on the second stage that was supposed to adjust the orbital trajectory where the satellites were to be inserted.
The engine was destroyed in the process; however, the satellites survived and were later deployed on a lower, highly eccentric orbit.
This was a major problem for the satellites because Falcon 9 failed to circularize the orbit and the spacecraft were left in an orbit with the lowest point (perigee) of just 135 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, where they are experiencing significant drag.
