Heavily Damaged SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster Returns to Port Canaveral After Post-Landing Fire
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A scorched and deformed SpaceX Falcon 9 booster arrived at Port Canaveral on Wednesday, presenting a rare sight among the routine flow of spaceflight hardware passing through the Florida port.
The booster’s landing legs jutted into the air, while its melted and warped body hung precariously off the side of the drone ship. The once-pristine first-stage booster was almost unrecognizable to casual observers, with only the presence of its nine intact engines confirming it was a Falcon 9.
Typically, SpaceX successfully recovers and reuses its Falcon 9 first-stage boosters. However, this particular booster suffered a rare post-landing accident following Sunday night’s Starlink mission.
“While disappointing to lose a rocket after a successful mission, the team will use the data to make Falcon even more reliable on ascent and landing,” SpaceX said in a statement.
Post-Landing Fire Declared a ‘Mishap’ by FAA
The mission initially appeared to be routine, with the booster touching down on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship as planned, approximately eight minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40. SpaceX’s live video feed showed the successful landing at 9:30 p.m. before cutting to an animation of the rocket’s second stage ascending into orbit.
However, after the broadcast ended, SpaceX confirmed that a fire broke out in the lower section of the first-stage booster, damaging one of its landing legs and causing the rocket to tip over.
At the time of the incident, Just Read the Instructions was stationed about 250 miles off the Florida coast in the Atlantic Ocean.
On Wednesday, the drone ship briefly held position outside Port Canaveral for U.S. Coast Guard clearance before entering and proceeding to its usual docking area near the industrial cranes.
Despite the booster’s loss, the Starlink satellites were deployed successfully, and the mission was deemed operationally successful.
The damaged booster had previously completed four missions, including three Starlink launches, the GOES-U satellite mission, and Maxar 3. Its fifth flight ended in failure, marking a rare but significant setback for SpaceX, which has successfully reused a single booster up to 26 times.
FAA Investigation Underway
In a statement on Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) acknowledged the incident and officially classified it as a “mishap.”
“The event involved the loss of the Falcon 9 first stage booster following a successful drone ship landing at sea,” the FAA said. “The FAA determined the event happened during licensed activities and declared it a mishap. SpaceX is required to perform a mishap investigation and submit the final report to the FAA.”
Despite the setback, the FAA approved SpaceX to continue launch operations on Tuesday, allowing the company to maintain its rapid launch cadence.
SpaceX’s History of Landing Incidents
This is not the first time a Falcon 9 booster has suffered post-landing damage. In August 2024, a Falcon 9 booster caught fire on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship following the Starlink 8-6 mission. However, in that case, the booster’s engines remained intact.
More recently, SpaceX’s Starship program has also faced setbacks. On Thursday, another Starship vehicle broke apart in a dramatic high-altitude failure during its eighth uncrewed flight test, scattering debris and briefly disrupting flights near Miami. This followed another Starship explosion on January 16, when a test vehicle was lost during a suborbital flight.
Despite these occasional failures, SpaceX continues to push the boundaries of reusable rocketry, refining its technology with each mission.