Elon Musk’s space company, SpaceX, plans to relaunch the Falcon 9 rocket on the 7th.
On Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced, “The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle is authorized to return to flight only for the planned Hera mission scheduled to launch on Oct. 7 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”
Last month, SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 to carry out the Crew-9 mission, transporting astronauts. However, a malfunction occurred in the rocket’s second stage during the engine reignition process when it was placed in orbit. Consequently, it caused the rocket booster to fall outside the FAA-approved area. Following this incident, the FAA suspended further launches of that rocket and initiated an investigation to which SpaceX objected.
After several days of investigation, the FAA agreed to authorize the Falcon 9 launch. Specifically, it allowed the Hera mission, which does not involve reentry to Earth for the second stage. The FAA explained, “The FAA has determined that the absence of a second stage reentry for this mission adequately mitigates the primary risk to the public in the event of a reoccurrence of the mishap experienced with the Crew-9 mission.”
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