SpaceX rocket explodes days before delayed billionaire's private space walk mission Polaris Dawn

A SpaceX rocket has exploded as it landed on a drone ship just days before a delayed civilian launch .

Falcon 9 booster 1062, which was making its 23rd flight, tipped over and exploded as it landed on the drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas". The rocket had sent 21 Starlink satellites on their way to orbit.

It was the first Falcon 9 landing failure since February 2021. It comes as SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk in 2002, delayed its historic Polaris Dawn astronaut mission multiple times. The mission was initially scheduled to launch early Monday morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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The company then rearranged the mission for Tuesday, but this attempt was also called off due to a helium leak. In an announcement, SpaceX stated: "Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical. Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit. Next launch opportunity is no earlier than Wednesday, 28 August."

However, also the August 28 date won't go ahead due to "unfavorable weather" as SpaceX announced Tuesday evening via X: "Due to unfavorable weather forecasted in Dragon's splashdown areas off the coast of Florida, we are now standing down from tonight and tomorrow's Falcon 9 launch opportunities of Polaris Dawn. Teams will continue to monitor weather for favorable launch and return conditions."

The mission has now been paused until at least Friday, as SpaeX said both August 28 and August 29 are no longer on the cards as possible launch dates. Commander Jared Isaacman said in a post on X: "Our launch criteria are heavily constrained by forecasted splashdown weather conditions. With no ISS (space station) rendezvous and limited life support consumables, we must be absolutely sure of reentry weather before launching.

"As of now, conditions are not favorable tonight or tomorrow, so we'll assess day by day. As Elon (Musk) mentioned, Polaris Dawn is a challenging mission with critical objectives, so we'll wait for the best opportunity to ensure success." Isaacman's crewmates are former F-16 pilot Scott Poteet and two SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. They plan to launch into a highly elliptical orbit that will carry them higher than any astronauts have flown since the Apollo moon program.

The Polaris Dawn mission is the first of three more SpaceX flights Isaacman is funding in cooperation with Musk. It is the first ever featuring non-government, civilian spacewalks. It will be the first spaceflight for Poteet, Gillis and Menon.

Isaacman - who previously flew to orbit in September 2021 - and Gillis will take turns floating up through the Crew Dragon's forward hatch to reach open space by using a scaffold known as the "Skywalker". Poteet and Menon will also be wearing SpaceX-designed pressure suits and will be considered spacewalkers even though they won't float like Isaacman and Gillis.

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The mission aims to test the new suit's joints, mobility and comfort to help SpaceX engineers develop lower-cost spacesuits that are easier to produce, since SpaceX estimates that large numbers of people will one day be venturing to the moon and Mars. The crew will also be testing a high-speed laser communications system, carrying out some bio-medical experiments during the five-day flight.