SpaceX Grounds Falcon 9 Fleet After Upper Stage Anomaly During Starlink Launch

SpaceX initiated an immediate grounding of its entire Falcon 9 rocket fleet following an off-nominal condition observed in an upper stage on Monday, February 2, 2026. The deviation occurred as the stage prepared for its standard deorbit burn after successfully deploying 25 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The vehicle completed its passivation sequence, which involves draining residual propellant, before the upper stage either fragmented or re-entered the atmosphere via an uncontrolled trajectory. This contrasts with the standard protocol, which mandates a targeted, controlled destruction over a designated oceanic zone. Conversely, the first stage of this specific Falcon 9, completing its 31st flight, executed a successful landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You,' highlighting a divergence in mission outcomes.

This operational halt directly affects the schedule for NASA's critical Crew-12 astronaut mission, currently slated for launch no earlier than February 11, 2026, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Crew-12 flight is scheduled to transport NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The mission timeline was already accelerated following the early return of the Crew-11 mission on January 15, 2026, due to a medical evacuation from the International Space Station (ISS), which subsequently left the station with a reduced crew complement.

The uncertainty now surrounds the launch date for the Crew-12 astronauts, who entered quarantine on January 28. The planned duration for their ISS assignment is anticipated to be approximately nine months. This latest incident represents the fourth recorded upper-stage anomaly for the Falcon 9 within a period of approximately 19 months, suggesting a requirement for rigorous technical review by SpaceX.

Previous upper-stage issues have resulted in varied grounding periods. A July 2024 Starlink launch anomaly, attributed to a cracked sensor line causing a liquid oxygen leak, led to a two-week grounding following an FAA-mandated investigation. Similarly, a September 2024 Crew-9 upper stage experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn, also resulting in a two-week clearance period after an FAA review. If the current grounding mirrors these precedents, a return-to-flight date around February 16 could be projected, potentially shifting the Crew-12 target slightly from its accelerated February 15 projection.

SpaceX has maintained a high operational tempo, achieving a record 165 orbital launches with the Falcon 9 fleet in 2025. The company must now determine the root cause of this malfunction to satisfy its internal review process before seeking authorization to resume flight operations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will closely monitor the data review, given its previous oversight of upper-stage issues and recent warnings to the aviation sector concerning commercial space debris fields. The reliability of the Falcon 9 Block 5 variant, which has logged 539 successful missions as of February 2, 2026, remains central to the ongoing investigation.