SpaceX lost the central booster of its Falcon Heavy rocket, which fell into the ocean from a platform due to rocking due to a strong storm.
On April 11, the central booster of the world's most powerful rocket, Falcon Heavy, successfully landed on SpaceX's unmanned platform in the Atlantic Ocean after completing the second launch of the rocket as part of the first with its use.
“Over the weekend, heavy ocean conditions prevented SpaceX's search and rescue team from securing the core booster for the return flight to Port Canaveral,” SpaceX said in a statement Monday. — Due to deteriorating conditions and waves of 8 to 10 feet (2,4 to 3 m), the booster began to shift and ultimately failed to stay upright. While we hoped to return the accelerator safely, the safety of our team was always our priority. We hope that this will not happen again in the future.”
This is the first time SpaceX has lost a rocket stage after landing safely due to inclement weather. The unmanned offshore platform has a system to ensure the Falcon 9's boosters are safely transported after landing, but the slightly different design of Heavy's booster prevented the system from being used. The company said it plans to improve the offshore platform's safety system for the next Falcon Heavy launch.
Except for the loss, the mission itself was quite successful. Two of Falcon Heavy's three boosters returned safely to land, and the ultimately lost central booster made a flawless landing on the offshore platform.
Source: 3dnews.ru