No, the risky part was trying to raise the orbit using the F9 upper stage after it had burned more fuel than expected due to the failed engine.
Quoth the article:
> Falcon 9 had enough kerosene fuel left over to relight the engine, but the amount of liquid oxygen "was only enough to achieve a roughly 95 percent likelihood of completing the second burn, so Falcon 9 did not attempt a restart,"
I doubt many satellites have enough maneuvering fuel on-board to raise their orbit like that.
You're right. I remember them discussing attempting to raise the orbit with onboard fuel, but I doubt that was possible.
My point was more that, prior to the engine failure, raising the orbit with the second stage was considered non-risky. You're correct that after the failure, raising the orbit with the second stage was risky.
From what I recall, the Orbcomm satellite was supposed to be left in a 350km x 750km orbit by the Falcon 9, and would then use its own reserves to achieve a basically circular orbit, 750km x 750km.
Quoth the article:
> Falcon 9 had enough kerosene fuel left over to relight the engine, but the amount of liquid oxygen "was only enough to achieve a roughly 95 percent likelihood of completing the second burn, so Falcon 9 did not attempt a restart,"
I doubt many satellites have enough maneuvering fuel on-board to raise their orbit like that.