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March 3, 2025, was an unfortunate date for SpaceX. The journey started quite gloriously but ended in a massive failure, as the company lost its booster in the process. On March 2, 2025, SpaceX successfully launched 21 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit using its Falcon 9 rocket. Up to this point, things were all right; the issue started after Falcon 9’s first-stage booster suffered structural damage after landing and collapsed.
The Falcon 9 rocket that was carrying 21 Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:24 p.m. ET. As part of SpaceX’s mission to provide high-speed internet, this rocket included 13 satellites equipped with direct-to-cell capabilities. The mission was going well, and approximately 65 minutes after the liftoff, the upper stage successfully deployed all 21 satellites into their designated orbits.
It was SpaceX's 26th Falcon 9 mission of 2025, which has enhanced the operational Starlink satellite number to over 7,000, reflecting its commitment to enhancing global connectivity. While things were initially going great, a sudden issue appeared during the recovery phase of the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster, B1086.
This booster was previously used for five missions, and among the three was Starlink. However, after multiple successful landings, this time, the booster attempted to land on the drone ship that was stationed approximately 250 miles off the Florida coast. At first, it touched the surface of the droneship, but a sudden fire at its base damaged its legs, and it was lost in the sea.
This marked the first unsuccessful landing of a Falcon 9 booster since February 2021, and this one issue ended its streak of 267 successful recoveries throughout the years. SpaceX acknowledged the loss, and the CEO of the company, Elon Musk, mentioned, “Too many question marks about this flight, and then we were 20 bar low on ground spin-start pressure. Best to destack, inspect both stages, and try again in a day or two."
Even though it looks like nothing serious, this loss of Falcon 9 raises questions regarding safety protocols. This incident has prompted SpaceX to conduct a thorough investigation to find the root cause of this incident. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) typically goes through these types of investigations to ensure safety protocols to prevent these types of issues in the future.
Despite this setback, SpaceX is not disappointed, and the best part is the company is hopeful to learn from this mistake and achieve new heights of success in the future. Additionally, SpaceX’s rapid address of the issue is another commendable thing. Furthermore, the data gathered from the incident will likely contribute to securing the future of the upcoming missions.
To sum up, the recent Starlink satellite launch mission wasn’t a failure. It successfully expanded the Starlink satellite constellation, but the loss of Falcon 9 shows the points where improvement is still required in rocket recovery technology.
