After its record-breaking 19th mission, Falcon 9 B1058 tipped over on the droneship during its transport back to Port Canaveral due to high winds and waves.
B1058 was the only booster with NASA’s logos because of its maiden launch, Demo-2 (the first crewed orbital spaceflight launched from the U.S. since the Shuttle program), and it lead the fleet with the most amount of re-flights.
B1058 launched 2 astronauts, 860+ satellites and 260 tons of payload to orbit over 3.5 years.
SpaceX will recover its Merlin engines for other missions.
The Falcon fleet’s life leading rocket completed its 19th and final launch and landing on December 23. This one reusable rocket booster alone launched to orbit 2 astronauts and more than 860 satellites — totaling 260+ metric tons — in ~3.5 years pic.twitter.com/q1ANdGCpEg
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 26, 2023
Falcon 9 B1058 🫡🇺🇸🚀🪱
A portion of the record-setting Falcon 9 booster remains on board the Just Read the Instructions droneship. After its 19th launch and landing, the vehicle tipped over in rough seas during the transit back to Port Canaveral, and its top portion broke off.… pic.twitter.com/TaYhgmHL9R
— John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) December 26, 2023
The first strut was removed from B1058 and the leg was folded by a crane overnight.
Views of work ongoing: https://t.co/icguJj64A8 pic.twitter.com/j1XwgyUFc0
— Gav Cornwell (@SpaceOffshore) December 27, 2023
B1058 returns to Port Canveral for the 19th and final time 🫡 pic.twitter.com/0XxEe8n2ua
— Jerry Pike (@JerryPikePhoto) December 26, 2023
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With the engines taken out and reused, it will continue to contribute to low cost access to space.