Many Launch Problems Occur, NASA Panel Asks SpaceX To Focus On Safety Of Crew Dragon Missions

SpaceX's Dragon plane that escorts NASA crew (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA SpaceX has faced three launch problems in the past four months. This issue caught NASA's attention when a meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) was held on October 31.

The list of issues related to the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft was discussed by Kent Rominger, a former astronaut who served as NASA's safety panel. According to him, these various problems need to be used as reminders.

Rominger asked SpaceX to remain vigilant as the company will face more missions in the future, including the Crew Dragon mission in collaboration with NASA. The former astronaut asked SpaceX and NASA not to underestimate simple missions.

"It is clear that safe operations require significant attention," Rominger said, quoted from Spacenews. "Both NASA and SpaceX need to maintain focus on safe Crew Dragon operations and not underestimate any 'normal' operations."

To carry out research missions on the International Space Station (ISS) safely, NASA and SpaceX need to be more careful and focus on the details needed. Both must also provide the best resources in order to solve the problem appropriately.

"(NASA and SpaceX must) be careful so that high operating rates do not obscure their judgment to ensure the right level of attention to the details and timing as well as the right resources is dedicated to understanding the root of the problem," Rominger said.

SpaceX is indeed busy this year because of Starlink's launch target and the development of the Starliner spacecraft. However, in the midst of this busyness, SpaceX has faced three different problems and the average occurred in Falcon 9.

Last July, the second phase of Falcon 9 failed to set a second fire. Two months later, the upper stage of Falcon 9 had problems again when carrying the Crew-9 mission. Luckily, the problem occurred after taking the crew into space.

The last problem occurred last August when the Falcon 9 booster disappeared. Initially, the launch went smoothly and Starlink was successfully deployed into orbit. When the booster wanted to land, the fire emerged from the base that caused the vehicle to overturn and disappear.