SpaceX announced the suspension of Falcon 9 launches. This was due to an anomaly in the operation of the rocket’s second stage.
The incident occurred during the launch, which took place on February 2 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base. The mission’s goal was to launch 25 Starlink satellites into orbit.
The launch itself went smoothly. After separating the satellites, engineers began preparing for the standard procedure of controlled descent of the second stage from orbit to prevent it from falling in a populated area. However, the company then issued a statement saying that the stage had “experienced an abnormal condition” during preparations for the final engine launch to deorbit. The company did not specify what the abnormal situation was. SpaceX also reported that the stage had been passivated. This procedure usually involves draining residual fuel and discharging batteries to eliminate the possibility of an explosion.
According to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, at the time SpaceX’s statement was published, the problematic Falcon 9 stage was in orbit with a perigee altitude of 110 km and an apogee altitude of 241 km. Just a few hours later, it left orbit.
The problematic second stage of Falcon 9
SpaceX has not disclosed how long the process of returning Falcon 9 to flight is expected to take. However, it is worth noting that the company has experienced several issues with its second stage in recent years. In September 2024, due to an engine malfunction, the company was also unable to bring it out of orbit at the specified point. As a result, SpaceX suspended most Falcon 9 launches for two weeks.
In February 2025, another Falcon 9 second stage failed to perform its deorbit maneuver, which SpaceX attributed to a fuel leak. It later made an uncontrolled reentry into the atmosphere and its debris fell in Poland. This incident did not result in a prolonged suspension of Falcon 9 launches.
And in July 2024, the Falcon 9 launch ended in complete failure. The second stage failed to restart, leaving the payload in a very low orbit. SpaceX resumed launches 15 days after an investigation revealed that the cause of the incident was a liquid oxygen leak.
According to Spacenews
