Falcon 9’s second stage experienced off-nominal deorbit burn post Crew-9 launch

SpaceX has successfully launched the Falcon 9 rocket with Dragon spacecraft carrying Crew-9 astronauts to the International Space Station.

The rocket lifted off at 1:17 p.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. After separating from the second stage, the booster landed on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Everything went well with the second stage in orbit as it deployed the Dragon to the Space Station’s trajectory. The spacecraft will dock at the orbiting laboratory on Sunday, September 29 at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida with Crew-9 mission (Source – SpaceX)

Post-launch, SpaceX confirmed that Falcon 9’s second stage was disposed of in the ocean as planned but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn. Therefore, the second stage missed its targeted splash area but landed safely.

The deorbit burn is a controlled maneuver where the second stage fires its engines to reduce its orbital velocity, causing it to descend from orbit to enter Earth’s atmosphere. Getting an off-nominal deorbit means that the rocket burn has not been completed in the right sequence planned for reentry.

There could be several causes for this mishap including guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) system issues, propellant management problems, and hardware failures.

SpaceX has announced that it will investigate the issues and resume the flight afterward. Meanwhile, FAA has not commented on this matter but it’s expected to come soon.