ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

FAA grounds SpaceX after rocket falls over in flames at landing

Share

SpaceX launches are on hold after a booster rocket toppled over in flames while landing Wednesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded the company's Falcon 9 rockets and ordered an investigation following the predawn accident off the Florida coast. No injuries or public damage were reported.

It's too early to know how much impact this will have on SpaceX's upcoming crew flights, one private and the other for NASA. A billionaire's chartered flight was delayed just a few hours earlier because of a poor weather forecast.

The rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and got all 21 Starlink internet satellites to orbit. But the first-stage booster fell over in a fireball moments after landing on an ocean platform, the first such accident in years. It was the 23rd time this particular booster had launched, a recycling record for SpaceX.

The FAA said it must approve SpaceX's accident findings and corrective action before the company can resume Falcon 9 launches. A launch from California with more Starlinks was immediately called off following the accident.

SpaceX's Jon Edwards, a vice president, said the company is working "ASAP" to understand what went wrong.

"Losing a booster is always sad. Each one of them has a unique history and character. Thankfully this doesn't happen often," Edwards posted on X.

Besides the private spaceflight awaiting liftoff from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX is due to launch a pair of astronauts for NASA late next month. Two seats will be set aside for the two astronauts who launched in June aboard Boeing's new Starliner capsule, deemed unsafe by NASA for their return.

------

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

Shamattawa RCMP are searching for a missing six-year-old boy who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.

B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is calling on the Bloc Quebecois to topple the Trudeau government next Wednesday and trigger a federal election.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.