How SpaceX rocket failure might delay two of its critical crewed missions

The company cannot carry out Falcon 9 flights until an investigation into its recent booster failure is completed

The Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink internet satellites launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 28. (SpaceX via AP)

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The temporary grounding of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, following a landing failure of one of its boosters on Wednesday, will possibly further delay two important human space flight missions.

SpaceX is slated to launch the Polaris Dawn mission with billionaire Jared Isaacman this week, and Nasa’s Crew-9 mission to launch two astronauts to the International Space Station in September.

It could also push back the return of Boeing Starliner’s test flight crew - Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been forced to prolong their week-long mission following technical glitches to the capsule.

Wednesday's events saw the booster successfully complete its primary mission of launching a batch of Starlink satellites into orbit but encountering a technical issue during its return to Earth, leading to a fiery crash landing.

"We are working as hard as we can to thoroughly understand the root cause and get corrective actions in place ASAP (as soon as possible)," Jon Edwards, Falcon 9 product developer at SpaceX, posted on X.

"One thing we do know though is this was purely a recovery issue and posed no threat to primary mission or public safety."

Falcon 9 boosters are designed to be reusable, allowing them to return to Earth and land vertically on a drone ship or landing pad after completing their mission.

This reusability helps reduce costs for SpaceX by enabling the same rocket to be used for multiple launches.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into the failure of the company’s flagship rocket.

SpaceX can resume flights once a report by the FAA has been issued and the corrective actions listed in it completed by the company.

On July 11, SpaceX had another incident where a Falcon 9 rocket suffered a liquid oxygen leak, which prevented it from achieving its intended orbit during a Starlink mission.

The mishap led the FAA to temporarily grounding Falcon 9 flights while they conducted an investigation, but SpaceX was able to return to flights in about two weeks.

These delays can disrupt Nasa’s and other clients’ plans, as well as create a backlog of missions that SpaceX must carry out under contract.

Nasa has been relying heavily on SpaceX to maintain continuous human presence aboard the ISS, especially since the retirement of the Space Shuttle programme and the delays in Boeing's Starliner.

The space agency had launched the Commercial Crew Programme, in which it awards contracts to private companies to develop vehicles that can safely launch and bring back its astronauts.

This was so that Nasa would not have to rely on a single launch provider, in case a rocket develops technical issues.

So far, SpaceX and Boeing are part of the programme.

And despite occasional setbacks, the Falcon 9 remains one of the most reliable rockets in the world, with a high success rate across hundreds of launches that take place in Florida and California.