SpaceX launches are on hold after a booster rocket toppled over in flames while landing. The Federal Aviation Administration grounded the company's Falcon 9 rockets and ordered an investigation following Wednesday's accident off the Florida coast.
Not as much as you might think. Space launch rockets don't carry a lot of extra fuel beyond what's absolutely needed. Even propulsively landed rockets are almost empty.
If you want to be outraged, look at how much carbon dioxide is produced during ascent.
Plus it did land on the barge. Most of the debris should be there, though the remaining fuel would have mainly gone overboard. Probably the flight termination explosives also.
That's impressive, I do wonder if they have some estimated lifespan for each rocket or how many times it's reusable. Unless they intend to just keep using it with minimal to no maintenance at all. Which I guess would eventually lead to this.
What I get for saying something without googling first. I was expecting the hypergolic fueled mess of older rockets, but this is just a mess, but like, not THAT bad of a mess.
Can you explain how a booster that flew 23 times is a loss when no other companies are doing it? I don't like Musk but people need to separate their views of him from SpaceX
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.