US authorities begin investigation into SpaceX ‘landing accident’, Falcon 9 use suspended

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle engulfed in flames shortly after landing [SpaceX 제공]

The U.S. authorities have begun investigating the Falcon 9 launch vehicle from the U.S. space company SpaceX, which had an accident during the landing process.

According to the Associated Press, the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, has decided to investigate and ground the Falcon 9 launch until the investigation is concluded.

The Falcon 9 is a reusable two-stage space launch vehicle.

The accident occurred at Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida at dawn on the 28th local time.

The Falcon 9, carrying 21 Starlink satellites for the low-Earth orbit communications network project, completed its mission as scheduled, but a problem occurred with the separated first stage booster.

The first stage propulsion system managed to make a vertical landing, but then burst into flames and collapsed.

There were no casualties in the accident, but the FAA halted SpaceX’s plans to launch additional Falcon 9s from California.

SpaceX Vice President John Edwards said the cause of the accident is under investigation.