Another failed deorbit of a Falcon 9 upper stage

Falcon 9 upper stage. Image: SpaceX

On 2 February 2026, SpaceX launched Starlink 17-32, with 25 new Starlink satellites, from Vandenberg SFB in California. The satellites successfully reached Low Earth Orbit, but something went wrong with the upper stage, and not for the first time. SpaceX stated on their website:

During today’s launch, the second stage experienced an off-nominal condition during preparation for the deorbit burn. The vehicle then performed as designed to successfully passivate the stage. The first two MVac burns were nominal and safely deployed all 25 Starlink satellites to their intended orbit. Teams are reviewing data to determine root cause and corrective actions before returning to flight.

This is not the first time a controlled Falcon 9 upper stage deorbit failed: this in fact was the fourth time in barely 1.5 years time. 

In July 2024, during the launch of Starlink 9-3, the upper stage failed to re-light, the engine destructing instead, leaving the payloads in a too low orbit. The upper stage later made an uncontrolled deorbit.

In September 2024, the upper staged used for the Crew Dragon 9 launch failed to do a proper deorbit burn, with the stage missing the designated deorbit area. 

In February 2025, after the launch of Starlink 11-4, the upper stage failed to do a deorbit burn. The resulting uncontrolled reentry 18 days later caused a spectacle in the NW European sky, with parts surviving and impacting in Poland (see this earlier blogpost).

And now something similar happened again with the latest, 2 Feb 2026 launch. The upper stage (2026-022AB, catnr. 67675) failed its controlled deorbit. Initially left in a 110 x 241 km orbit, it had an uncontrolled reentry twelve hours after the launch. 

Where it deorbitted is not exactly known. The US Space Force/CSpOC published a TIP for 3 February 2:29 ± 1h UTC. Our Tudat model suggests reentry one orbital revolution later, at 3:47 ± 1.5 h UTC. The maps below give the trajectory over the uncertainty window of respectively the CSpOC TIP, and our Tudat model. The uncertainties overlap each other.

trajectory over CsPOC TIP uncertainty window. Click to enlarge

 

trajectory over the Tudat uncertainty window. Click to enlarge

 

The controlled deorbit aimed for should have happened around 17:35 UTC, just after completion of the first orbital revolution (see map below of what the original plan was). Instead, the upper stage continued to orbit for some 7 more revolutions (or 10 extra hours).

original deorbit plan. Click to enlarge