SpaceX rocket fails after routine launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base

SpaceX's stalwart Falcon 9 rocket, which powers satellite launches as well as trips to orbit for NASA astronauts, experienced a rare failure Thursday night as it attempted to haul a batch of internet satellites to orbit.

The rocket took flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara on Thursday evening, around 7:30 p.m.

The launch vehicle carried 20 satellites for SpaceX's Starlink network, which already operates via more than 6,000 satellites that have been deployed via dozens of launches.

Most of those flights have gone off without any obvious issues - but Thursday was different.

The first leg of the mission appeared to proceed smoothly, with the Falcon 9 using its first-stage booster - the bottommost part of the rocket with nine engines that provides the initial burst of power at liftoff - to propel itself toward space.

That booster then detached and landed safely back on a sea-faring platform so that SpaceX can refurbish and use it again.

But the second stage of the rocket, which is designed to fire up after the first stage falls away and propel the satellites to their final destination in orbit, failed abruptly. The cause was not immediately clear.

"During tonight's Falcon 9 launch of Starlink, the second stage engine did not complete its second burn. As a result, the Starlink satellites were deployed into a lower than intended orbit," according to a statement from SpaceX.

Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO, added in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the the second stage did not just fail- it experienced what his company tends to call an "RUD" or "rapid unscheduled disassembly," which typically refers to an explosion.

"Reasons unknown," Musk's post reads.

Musk added that the Starlink satellites were deployed into orbit, but they may be too near Earth to remain there for long.

In a later update, posted after 10:30 p.m., SpaceX said it had made contact with five of the 20 satellites and was attempting to raise their orbit.

"We're updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9," Musk said. "Unlike a Star Trek episode, this will probably not work, but it's worth a shot."

SpaceX's Starlink satellites are designed to disintegrate as the reenter the atmosphere, according to the company, so satellites that do fall out of orbit should not pose a risk to people on the ground.

However, recent incidents have shown space garbage can unexpectedly survive reentry.

It's not clear what this mishap means for the future of SpaceX's Falcon 9. Typically, rockets remain grounded for months after a failure as engineers work to determine the root cause and verify the vehicle's safety.

The Falcon 9, SpaceX's most prolific launch vehicle, has some key astronaut missions on the horizon. That includes plans to fly tech billionaire Jared Isaacman and three crewmates on a trip to orbit that is expected to include the first-ever spacewalk conducted by private astronauts. In August, SpaceX is also expected to fly NASA astronauts to the International Space Station as part of a long-running contract with the space agency.

Neither NASA nor the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, immediately provided comment to CNN. SpaceX also did not respond but does not typically reply to news inquiries.

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