A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday night, carrying 20 Starlink satellites.

However, about an hour later, the rocket’s second stage failed to reignite, resulting in the satellites being deployed into a shallower orbit, where they are expected to soon reenter and burn up in the atmosphere.

CEO Elon Musk reported on X that the failure led to a “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly” (RUD) for unknown reasons.

This incident marks the first failure in over seven years for the Falcon 9, which has been crucial to the global space industry, Reuters reported.

As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration has grounded the Falcon 9 until SpaceX investigates the issue and receives approval to resume launches, a process that could take weeks or months.

This mishap ends a streak of over 300 successful missions for SpaceX.

Written by B.C. Begley