Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
Screenshot from the webcast of a SpaceX Starlink launch on July 11, 2024, showing a buildup of liquid-oxygen ice on the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. The ice resulted from a leak, which prevented the upper stage from performing a planned engine burn and led to the loss of 20 Starlink broadband satellites.The failure seemed shocking, given the impressive track record of the Falcon 9: It's one of the most reliable and prolific launchers the world has ever known.
McDowell takes another lesson from the anomaly as well — a time-honored one about not putting all of your eggs in one basket. "It reminds other potential customers that it's in their interest for there to be multiple providers," McDowell said of the Falcon 9 failure."Maybe they should give some launches to some of SpaceX's rivals, even if they're not the cheapest, just to maintain the alternative, if SpaceX has another downtime."
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