The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday said SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded after failing an attempt to land back on Earth during a routine Starlink mission, forcing the company's second grounding this year. SpaceX's Falcon 9 successfully launched a batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit early Wednesday morning. The rocket's reusable first stage booster returned to Earth and attempted to land on a sea-faring barge as usual, but toppled into the ocean after a fiery touchdown, a SpaceX live stream showed. The FAA is requiring an investigation. Groundings of Falcon 9, a rocket that much of the Western world relies on to put satellites and humans in space, are rare. The rocket was last grounded in July for the first time since 2016, following a second-stage failure in space that doomed a batch of Starlink satellites. The rocket's grounding could delay the launch of SpaceX's high-profile Polaris Dawn mission with four private astronauts who are poised to attempt the first private spacewalk. The Polaris mission was expected to launch this week but was delayed by a launchpad hitch, then again over bad weather.
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