A recent SpaceX rocket launch ended in failure, marking the first such incident in nearly a decade. The Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 20 Starlink satellites, experienced a malfunction in its upper stage engine shortly after liftoff from California. The cause of the failure was attributed to a liquid oxygen leak, according to SpaceX.
Efforts were made by flight controllers to salvage the situation by contacting half of the satellites and attempting to boost them to a higher orbit using onboard ion thrusters. However, due to the satellites being in an orbit only 84 miles above Earth, significantly lower than intended, it is unlikely that the available thrust will be sufficient to raise them successfully. Consequently, the satellites are expected to reenter the atmosphere and burn up, although the exact timing of this event remains uncertain.
