A Falcon 9 rocket launch didn't go as planned for SpaceX Thursday evening as the second stage engine experienced some failures.
The engine failed to complete a second burn, deploying the Starlink satellites into lower than intended orbit, according to SpaceX.
"SpaceX has made contact with 5 of the satellites so far and is attempting to have them raise orbit using their ion thrusters," wrote the spacecraft company on X, formerly Twitter.
We’re updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2024
Unlike a Star Trek episode, this will probably not work, but it’s worth a shot.
The satellite thrusters need to raise orbit faster than atmospheric drag pulls them down or they burn up.
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The Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink satellites launched from the Vandenberg Space Station in California.
The Falcon 9 is a reusable rocket and is used to transport satellites and people into Earth orbit and beyond.
There have been a total of 352 total Falcon 9 rocket launches, 283 of which have had reflights.
