Another setback for Elon Musk’s SpaceX after mishap with NASA rescue mission

SpaceX launched its mission to rescue the two Starliner astronauts on Sunday.

SpaceX’s workhorse rocket has been grounded for the third time in three months after malfunctioning during a mission to rescue two astronauts stuck in space.

The Crew-9 mission successfully reached the International Space Station on Sunday as it prepares to bring home the astronauts left stranded by Boeing’s Starliner — but the launch didn’t go entirely to plan.

In a post on X on Sunday, SpaceX wrote that its Falcon 9 rocket’s second-stage booster experienced an “off-nominal deorbit burn” that caused it to land outside the targeted area.

SpaceX said it would resume launches once it had got to the bottom of the issue, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requesting an investigation. The regulator said no public injuries or property damage had occurred due to the landing.

It’s the third time SpaceX’s reusable rocket has been grounded in the last three months.

The Falcon 9 was grounded in July after a mishap with the booster caused a batch of Starlink satellites to burn up in orbit. This was the company’s first mission failure in more than seven years.

The rocket was also briefly grounded by the FAA in August after failing an attempt to land back on Earth.

The issues come as SpaceX and Musk clash with the FAA over the regulator’s investigations into the company and the pace at which it is green-lighting rocket launches.

SpaceX slammed the FAA in September after the fifth launch of its Starship rocket was delayed by two months, with Elon Musk claiming that humanity will “never get to Mars if this continues.”

Musk also accused the regulator of playing favorites, arguing it should punish Boeing over the issues with its Starliner spacecraft rather than fine SpaceX for “trivia.”

The Crew-9 mission traveled to the ISS half-empty as it prepared to bring home the two astronauts left stranded on the space station by Boeing’s Starliner.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were due to return home aboard Starliner several months ago, but glitches with Boeing’s spacecraft on its maiden crewed flight led NASA to decide to send it home empty.

SpaceX stepped in, and will now bring the two astronauts back to Earth aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft in February at the earliest.

SpaceX won its contract to supply the ISS at the same time as Boeing but has raced ahead of its rival in the space race.

Musk has frequently taunted Boeing over the issues with the aerospace giant’s space program, saying the company had too many “non-technical managers.”

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment, sent outside normal working hours.