SpaceX Dragon spacecraft had a thruster glitch at the International Space Station in June

the international space station seen from the side with earth in behind. a spacex crew dragon is on the top, docked to the station
A SpaceX Crew Dragon docked with the International Space Station. (Image credit: NASA)

A SpaceX cargo spacecraft had a glitch in space during its last mission.

A SpaceX Dragon docked with the International Space Station for 23 days in June had a thruster valve stuck open due to a corrosion problem, a SpaceX official said Tuesday (July 25) during a NASA press conference.

"It didn't impact the mission at all," Benji Reed, senior director of SpaceX's human spaceflight program, said in the livestreamed opportunity. Since SpaceX's spacecraft are similar enough between the cargo and Crew Dragon versions, however, engineers are looking at all spacecraft in production to address the issue. 

So far this situation will have no impact on the launch date for the next astronaut mission, known as Crew-7. Crew-7 will launch with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos. 

They will head to the ISS from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 6:56 a.m. EDT (1056 GMT) on Aug. 17. You can watch the events live at Space.com, via NASA Television.

Related: SpaceX's Crew-7 astronaut launch delayed to Aug. 17

The valve — known as an isolation valve — is designed to come on in case of a thruster leak, Reed said during the press conference. Since no leak was happening at the time it was stuck open, the valve "didn't have to serve any purpose." 

The affected spacecraft, known as CRS-28, otherwise returned to Earth normally on June 30 after 25 days in space. After checking into the valve on CRS-28, SpaceX looked at its entire spacecraft line. They found "corrosion among certain units," Reed said, which SpaceX is looking into identifying and addressing.

As part of this work, SpaceX has already tested all the isolation valves on its Crew Dragons and will continue to do so during their normal maintenance and certification for flight. "At this point, no anomalous behavior has been identified on any of those valves. They're all operating, opening and closing appropriately," he said.

While there are backup valves available to isolate a leak in case of trouble, Reed said SpaceX will do its best to address the root cause and to keep NASA apprised of developments.

"We will continue to work closely with NASA and all of our SpaceX teams to ensure that we're ready to fly," he added. 

SpaceX engineers, he emphasized, "will continue our mini tests and reviews that we've been doing. These always give us an opportunity to step back, review the data, listen to the hardware, and mitigate any risks."

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Elizabeth Howell
Former Staff Writer, Spaceflight (July 2022-November 2024)

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, leading world coverage about a lost-and-found space tomato on the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. 

  • BuddyBanks
    Admin said:
    SpaceX's last cargo Dragon spacecraft had a thruster valve stuck open while docked with the International Space Station. The company says there should be no effect on the next launch.

    SpaceX Dragon spacecraft had a thruster glitch at the International Space Station in June : Read more
    Re: Space Forum.
    Curiosity is the generator of my overview question about the Thruster Valve stuck open during the attachment to the International Space Station.
    Since the cause was due to corrosion, one must conclude there was moisture exposure. Since the moon supposedly has no moisture, and since the Thruster Valve should have been dry from the generated heat of its voyage, how did corrosion occur?
    BuddyBanks
    Reply
  • billslugg
    This rocket did not go to the Moon, it was in low Earth orbit at the Space Station. The rocket spent many months in hot. humid, salty Florida beachfront. Saltwater corrosion is a big issue.
    Reply