After weeks of investigating the June 28 Falcon 9 failure and scrutinizing data collected from over 3,000 telemetry channels, video channels, and debris analysis, SpaceX thinks they know what caused the failure. Preliminary data points to the structural failure of a steel strut designed to hold helium pressurant tanks in place inside the upper stage liquid oxygen (LOX) tank.
Following an on-time launch on June 28, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon cargo vehicle broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 139 seconds into the flight, just prior to the first stage separation, the vehicle disintegrated. Directly following the launch failure, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX COO and president attributed the anomaly to an over-pressurization of the upper stage. The cause of the overpressurization was unknown until the flight data had been analyzed.
During a media teleconference today, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk emphasized that the findings are preliminary and will be further scrutinized. The results have been shared with the FAA and all of SpaceX’s commercial partners before they were shared with the public. Musk said everyone agrees the strut failure is the likely cause.
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