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[xinhua news agency micro-feature] the faa suspended the launch of space exploration technology company (spacex)'s "falcon 9" main launch vehicle on september 30. the reason was that a "falcon 9" carried out a launch a few days ago. a malfunction occurred during the human flight mission, and the second-stage rocket did not land in the target area.

this is the third time the falcon 9 has been grounded in the past three months.

spacex launched a falcon 9 as planned on september 28 to transport two nasa astronauts to the international space station. after the secondary engine sent the payload carrying astronauts into the target orbit, it failed to re-ignite and separate normally, that is, it performed a "de-orbit ignition" operation. this is a routine operation designed to allow the second stage rocket to re-enter the atmosphere for recovery after completing its flight.

the faa said that although the failure caused no casualties or property damage, and the astronauts arrived at the international space station safely and completed the docking as planned, spacex needs to temporarily ground the falcon 9 until the cause of the failure is identified. the faa oversees private industry rocket and launch site safety and ensures public safety.

spacex said on social media that the failure caused the second-stage rocket to fall into an area in the pacific ocean, deviating from the safety area designated by the faa. "we will resume launches after we understand the root cause of the problem."

"falcon 9" is the world's first orbital-level reusable rocket, and it is currently the only rocket in the united states that can regularly carry astronauts to the international space station. "falcon 9" is spacex's main launch vehicle model. it launches an average of 2 to 3 rockets per week. it has experienced at least three failures in the past three months.

on july 11, the falcon 9's secondary engine failed, causing the 20 starlink satellites it carried not to enter the intended orbit. the faa subsequently ordered the falcon 9 to be grounded for the first time since 2016. the grounding order will be lifted after 15 days. on august 28, the falcon 9 failed to land during its starlink internet satellite launch mission. "falcon 9" was grounded again and returned to flight three days later. (end) (wang hongbin)

keywords: "falcon 9" (falcon 9)