A NASA safety panel has warned SpaceX to focus on crew safety during commercial flights to the International Space Station (ISS) after four astronauts were recently hospitalized.
During a meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Group on Thursday, Kent Rominger, a former astronaut and committee member, drew attention to a number of recent anomalies related to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon crew capsule, SpaceNews reports. For many years, SpaceX has been a reliable partner of NASA, delivering nine crews to the ISS with reliable equipment. However, the recent anomalies may be the result of the company’s desire to launch missions faster and faster and maintain its leadership in the industry.
“When you look at these recent incidents that have occurred in the last few weeks, you realize that safe operation requires significant attention to detail as the equipment ages and the pace of work increases,” Rominger was quoted as saying. “Both NASA and SpaceX need to focus on the safety of Crew Dragon operations and not take any ‘business as usual’ operations for granted.”
The NASA SpaceX Crew-8 crew recently returned from the ISS aboard the Dragon spacecraft. After the ship crashed off the coast of Florida on Friday, all four astronauts were taken to the hospital, and one crew member stayed overnight. NASA has not released any additional information about why the crew was hospitalized or whether it was related to the Dragon crash.
SpaceX’s reliable Falcon 9 rocket has also suffered several failures this year. The Falcon 9 rocket launched the Crew-9 mission on September 28, delivering NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov to the ISS aboard the Dragon crew capsule. During the descent to land in the ocean, the upper stage of the rocket suffered a burn in deorbit, which led to it not landing in the planned landing zone.
This incident forced SpaceX to land the rocket for the third time in less than three months. In July, the rocket failed to deliver satellites to orbit due to a malfunction of the upper stage. This incident suspended the rocket’s operations until an investigation into the failed flight was completed about two weeks later, when it was determined that the engine malfunction was caused by an oxygen leak. A month later, the booster returned to Earth to land on an unmanned ship in the Atlantic Ocean after delivering 21 Starlink satellites to orbit when it overturned upon reaching the drone and broke apart, causing a large fire. This incident forced the US Federal Aviation Administration to ground the rocket, but three days later, the Falcon 9 returned to launching Starlink satellites.
It is quite unusual for Falcon 9, an industry favorite, to suffer from anomalies. The Falcon 9 has performed almost flawlessly since its debut in 2010, but SpaceX may be overstretching its rocket a bit. This year, SpaceX plans to launch a record 148 of its Falcon 9 rockets, surpassing 98 missions in 2023.
During the safety discussion, former astronaut Rominger called on both NASA and SpaceX to “not let the high pace of work cloud their judgment” and ensure “the proper level of attention to detail, as well as the appropriate time and resources” to deeply understand root causes and implement corrective actions, SpaceNews reports.
As an industry favorite, SpaceX faces considerable pressure to keep up with the accelerating pace of commercial spaceflight, especially given the sometimes overly ambitious goals and deadlines set by founder and CEO Elon Musk. The company may need to slow down to evaluate recent malfunctions and prioritize safety in the future.
