The FAA is grounding SpaceX rockets after one of the company’s Falcon 9 failed to land safely on Wednesday morning.
The failure came just hours after the spacecraft maker pushed back the launch of the manned Polaris Dawn mission, the first commercial attempt at a spacewalk, citing weather conditions.
Per the FAA, the Falcon 9 would remain grounded pending a full safety investigation, also posing delays for the Polaris Dawn launch, as four astronauts wait in quarantine ahead of the mission.
“An investigation is designed to further enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again,” the agency said in a statement, according to NPR.
The launch, which succeeded in its second stage despite the first-stage failure, was designed to send even more of the company’s Starlink satellites into orbit, adding to the 6,000+ strong fleet, while some North Carolina residents allege the satellites often end up as dangerous debris in their yards.
The failure, and regulatory scrutiny, marks another for the young private aerospace manufacturer, which has scooped up countless federal contracts as its founder, billionaire Elon Musk, throws his weight behind presidential candidate Donald Trump, who led deregulation efforts during his time in office.
SpaceX was also slated to take over a rescue mission next month of two American astronauts, left stranded on the International Space Station after Boeing’s Starliner suffered a failure. The news sent an already-battered Boeing’s stock down further on Monday morning.
Beyond SpaceX’s competitors, the Elon Musk-founded Tesla also faced technical hurdles this week, when reports revealed that the automotive manufacturer’s long-championed full self-driving technology could not navigate through the company’s one-lane empty tunnels beneath Las Vegas.
