A SpaceX rocket has failed for the first time in nearly a decade, leaving the company's internet satellites in an orbit so low that they're doomed.
This image from video provided by SpaceX shows the upper stage engine of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which blasted off from California on Thursday, July 11, 2024. rocket has failed for the first time in nearly a decade, leaving the company’s internet satellites in an orbit so low that they're doomed to fall through the atmosphere and burn up.
The company said flight controllers managed to make contact with half of the satellites and attempted to boost them to a higher orbit using onboard ion thrusters. But with the low end of their orbit only 84 miles above Earth — less than half what was intended — “our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites,” the company said via X.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the problem must be fixed before Falcon Rockets can fly again.
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