BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — After being grounded for about two weeks, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket finally resumed flight early Saturday.
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The Federal Aviation Administration grounded the rocket after a mishap during a west coast Starlink launch in early July.
SpaceX recently submitted a report to the FAA and took corrective action to resume launches.
READ: FAA gives SpaceX clearance to resume launch of Falcon 9 rocket
Liftoff from Kennedy Space Center happened at 1:45 a.m. Saturday.
SpaceX confirmed that the rocket’s upper stage booster completed its second engine burn to place it in the final deploy orbit.
The rocket sent 23 new Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, which will expand the company’s internet service across the globe.
Falcon 9 returns to flight and delivers 23 @Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit pic.twitter.com/lLUk0ADIwY
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 27, 2024
During a briefing on Friday for NASA’s upcoming Crew-9 mission, Sarah Walker, SpaceX’s Director of Dragon Mission Management, explained what happened during the July 11 launch.
Walker said there was an oxygen leak caused by a crack in a line attached to a pressure sensor.
The leak caused “excessive cooling” of engine parts, which left the rocket without enough fuel to burn properly.
SpaceX and NASA reported they have figured out a work-around to the issue.
READ: NASA and SpaceX prepare for Crew-9 Launch
A Falcon 9 is expected to launch Crew-9 astronauts Zena Cardman, Nick Hague, and Stephanie Wilson and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the International Space Station no earlier than Aug.18.
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