Falcon 9 rockets operated by SpaceX temporarily halted following an unusual mission mishap.
The US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has announced an investigation into a recent incident involving a liquid oxygen leak in the second stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket during a mission.
The leak, traced back to damage sustained during a previous booster landing on a droneship, occurred during the Crew-11 mission. Specifically, the leak originated from an issue with the booster’s liquid oxygen system that was detected during a static fire test before the mission. SpaceX attributed the leak to damage caused during the Starlink 10-12 mission’s landing in late April 2025.
To address this, SpaceX implemented a nitrogen purge at the launch pad to mitigate the leak and also resolved related thrust vector control problems prior to flight. Corrective actions included installing a nitrogen purge system to prevent oxygen leakage during ground operations, replacing or repairing affected hardware, including fixing a thrust vector control anomaly on the booster, replacing an engine controller on engine five after abnormal signatures were detected before the Crew-11 launch, and conducting thorough static fire tests and prelaunch checks to ensure the leak was fully resolved before flight.
Unfortunately, the satellites were released into an orbit with a perigee of 135 km, lower than intended, due to the incident. This meant that the Earth’s gravity proved too strong at the satellites' altitude, and they have since re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and disappeared completely. The satellites do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety.
SpaceX teams attempted to contact the satellites to command them to use their own propulsion to rise, but to no avail. The next resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA, scheduled for early August, could potentially be delayed due to the investigation.
A final report will have to be approved by the FAA to determine the cause of the incident and identify corrective actions. Some upcoming missions could be affected by the findings of this report. The US aviation regulator's investigation aims to ensure the safety and reliability of SpaceX's operations.
- SpaceX's investigation and subsequent fixes were triggered by a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 rocket's second stage, a problem traced back to the damage sustained during a previous Starlink mission.
- General news reports have suggested that the Crew-11 mission's satellite deployment was compromised due to the liquid oxygen leak, leading to a possible delay in the next resupply mission to the International Space Station.
