Starlink Group 8-6

B1062's 23rd flight - a new booster reuse record - delivered 21 v2 mini Starlinks (13 with direct-to-cell) to the 53° shell, but the booster caught fire during touchdown on A Shortfall of Gravitas, toppled, and was destroyed.

The failure ended a streak of 267 consecutive successful booster recoveries - the first landing loss since February 2021. The FAA grounded Falcon 9 pending an investigation; it cleared SpaceX to resume flights on 30 August 2024, with the first return-to-flight launch on 31 August.