SpaceX officials says the failure did not affect eight remaining first-stage engines that performed as designed to deploy a Dragon cargo craft headed for a morning rendezvous with the International Space Station.
“Falcon 9 did exactly what it was designed to do,” SpaceX says in a statement. “Like the Saturn V, which experienced engine loss on two flights, Falcon 9 is designed to handle an engine out situation and still complete its mission.”
The Hawthorne-Calif., company, however, did fall short on one objective: a prototype commercial communications satellite that hitched a ride as a secondary payload was deposited in a lower-than-intended orbit.
The satellite’s owner, New Jersey-based Orbcomm, said they were working to determine if the orbit could be raised using the satellite’s on-board propulsion system.
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