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SpaceX has a Rare Failure

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/5980046905

July 12, 2024, 10:15 PM
nhtagmember
SpaceX has a Rare Failure
The Falcon launch out of Vandenburg started out fine but the second stage failed to re-light and stranded all the Starlink satellites in a very low high rate of decay orbit. Total loss of tge payload.
July 12, 2024, 11:46 PM
sjtill
Yes. We went out to watch the launch as has become our practice of late. But it was a pre-sunset launch so nothing was to be seen. Actually went back to SpaceFlightNow to check to see if Falcon booster landed normally.
Thee was a malfunction in the stage 2 Merlin Vacuum engine which led to a highly eccentric orbit for the StarLink satellites. They lost velocity in the atmospheric drag and burned up.
Ho-hum. Another launch from Vandenberg SPACE Force Base in 3 days.


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July 13, 2024, 10:20 AM
PGT
quote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Total loss of tge payload.


No, that's not accurate nor confirmed yet. Likely will be lost but they're in low perigee currently.
July 13, 2024, 10:35 AM
nhracecraft
^^^According to SpaceX it is! Apparently it's inevitable, so from their perspective, yup, Total Loss...It's just a matter of time!

From Space.com:
quote:
"Although the stage survived and still deployed the satellites, it did not successfully circularize its orbit, but it did passivate itself as normally performed at the end of each mission," the company added. "This left the satellites in an eccentric orbit with a very low perigee of 135 km [84 miles], which is less than half the expected perigee altitude."

SpaceX engineers worked to get the 20 Starlink satellites — 13 of which were capable of beaming service directly to cell phones — to raise their orbits using their onboard ion thrusters. But the hill was too steep to climb, according to the company.

"At this level of drag, our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites," SpaceX wrote in the update. "As such, the satellites will reenter Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise.

https://www.space.com/spacex-s...ch-anomaly-july-2024


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