The incident prompted the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to ground the rocket but Falcon 9 was back in the swing of things in no time, launching another batch of Starlink satellites three days later. August’s landing mishap ended a streak of 267 successful touchdowns and booster recoveries since February 2021.

NASA engineers are running checks to solve the mystery of why the Falcon 9's engine failed to perform a routine maneuver to lower the rocket's altitude.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Monday said SpaceX must investigate why the second stage of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket malfunctioned after a NASA astronaut mission on Saturday, grounding the rocket for the third time in three months.