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 1. News
 2. Spaceflight


FAA CLOSES INVESTIGATION OF SPACEX'S STARSHIP ROCKET LAUNCH MISHAP, 63 FIXES
NEEDED

By Mike Wall
published September 08, 2023

But that doesn't mean the giant vehicle has been cleared for its second liftoff.

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

Comments (8)

SpaceX's first integrated Starship and Super Heavy launch into the sky from
Starbase at Boca Chica, Texas on April 20, 2023. (Image credit: SpaceX)


SpaceX Starship Second Flight Test Update: SpaceX launched its Starship rocket
and Super Heavy booster on its second flight test on Nov. 18, 2023, but the
vehicles exploded during flight. Read our coverage for full details and video.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has closed its investigation into
the debut flight of SpaceX's giant Starship vehicle, which ended with a bang in
April.



The investigation — which SpaceX led and the FAA oversaw — identified "multiple
root causes" of the April 20 launch failure and 63 corrective actions the
company "must take to prevent mishap reoccurrence," FAA officials said in an
emailed statement today (Sept. 8).




The end of the investigation marks a major step toward the second-ever Starship
test flight, which SpaceX wants to launch soon from its Starbase site near the
South Texas town of Boca Chica. But, FAA officials stressed, it doesn't clear
the path completely.

"The closure of the mishap investigation does not signal an immediate resumption
of Starship launches at Boca Chica," they said in today's statement. "SpaceX
must implement all corrective actions that impact public safety and apply for
and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all safety,
environmental and other applicable regulatory requirements prior to the next
Starship launch."



Related: Relive SpaceX's explosive 1st Starship test in incredible launch photos

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Starship is the biggest and most powerful launcher ever built, boasting nearly
twice the thrust at liftoff of NASA's Space Launch System megarocket. 

Starship consists of two fully reusable elements, both powered by SpaceX's
Raptor engine: a giant first-stage booster called Super Heavy and a
165-foot-tall (50 meters) upper stage known as Starship. 

The April 20 flight marked the first time the duo had flown together. The goal
that day was to send the Ship 24 upper-stage prototype partway around Earth,
ending with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. But Starship suffered
a number of problems, chief among them the failure of its two stages to
separate. Thus, Starship's Autonomous Flight Safety System was engaged,
destroying the vehicle high above the Gulf of Mexico.

Other issues became apparent after the dust had cleared. 

For example, the self-destruct command took longer than expected to manifest,
and the enormous power of Super Heavy's 33 Raptor engines caused considerable
damage to Starbase. Those engines blasted out a crater beneath the site's
orbital launch mount, launching chunks of concrete high into the air.

Such problems need to be addressed ahead of future Starship flights, the mishap
investigation determined.

"Corrective actions include redesigns of vehicle hardware to prevent leaks and
fires, redesign of the launch pad to increase its robustness, incorporation of
additional reviews in the design process, additional analysis and testing of
safety critical systems and components including the Autonomous Flight Safety
System, and the application of additional change control practices," FAA
officials wrote in today's statement.  


RELATED STORIES:

 —  Starship and Super Heavy: SpaceX's Mars-colonizing transportation system

 —  Elon Musk says SpaceX could launch a Starship to the moon 'probably sooner'
than 2024: report

 — FAA seeks to fine SpaceX for August 2022 Starlink launch

SpaceX has already done much of this work, according to company founder and CEO
Elon Musk. In a post today on X (formerly known as Twitter), the billionaire
entrepreneur said the company has made "thousands of upgrades" to Starship, the
launch pad and Starbase's huge launch tower.

Perhaps the biggest of these upgrades is the switch to "hot staging," a strategy
in which a launch vehicle's upper stage begins firing its engines before it has
fully separated from the first stage. This shift required the installation of a
heat shield and "vented interstage" on the Super Heavy being prepped to fly
next, a prototype called Booster 9.

SpaceX has also fortified the ground beneath Starbase's orbital launch mount
with a steel plate, which spouts water to dissipate the destructive power of
Super Heavy's 33 Raptors. This deluge system showed its stuff during a recent
"static fire" engine test of Booster 9.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky
and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at:
community@space.com.


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Mike Wall
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Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in
2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has
been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien
life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science
writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D.
in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's
degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science
writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his
latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

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See more latest ►

See all comments (8)


8 Comments Comment from the forums
 * 24launch
   TO BE CLEAR, the FAA itself did not create the 63 corrective actions. SpaceX
   did.
   It would be helpful to read what former SpaceX mission director Abhi Tripathi
   tweeted out this afternoon to explain the process:
   
   I've seen dozens of "Twitter experts" misunderstand this (often time by
   adding "Breaking..." to their post for extra clicks) so let...
   Read More Reply
 * Ken Fabian
   Does the damage to the launch pad indicate a significant potential problem
   for landing and launching on open ground on the moon or Mars? Small rockets
   and especially single engines seem less likely to throw damaging debri back
   at anything vulnerable than a large rocket with a broad base and multiple
   engines. Building a launch pad first seems especially...
   Read More Reply
 * billslugg
   I believe they will use a nozzle ring around the top of the landing craft so
   the Moon regolith won't be stirred up too much. Maybe those colonists could
   build solid rock pads for later use by bottom mounted engines.
   Reply
 * Robert Clark
   > 24launch said:
   > TO BE CLEAR, the FAA itself did not create the 63 corrective actions.
   > SpaceX did.
   > It would be helpful to read what former SpaceX mission director Abhi
   > Tripathi tweeted out this afternoon to explain the process:
   > 
   > I've seen dozens of "Twitter experts" misunderstand this (often time by
   > adding "Breaking..." to their post for extra clicks)...
   
   Read More Reply
 * Robert Clark
   To me this is the big one in the FAA news release:
   
   “Corrective actions include redesigns of vehicle hardware to prevent leaks
   and fires,…”
   
   That sounds to me the FAA wants SpaceX to solve that issue before being
   granted another launch license. People watching replays seeing the engines
   catch on fire just say, “That’s interesting; it looks...
   Read More Reply
 * FireNWater
   Item #64: Send $$$$$'s to Congress.
   .
   Be a shame if something bad happened to your launch license, Elon . .
   Reply
 * Jasper
   > Robert Clark said:
   > To me this is the big one in the FAA news release:
   > 
   > “Corrective actions include redesigns of vehicle hardware to prevent leaks
   > and fires,…”
   > 
   > That sounds to me the FAA wants SpaceX to solve that issue before being
   > granted another launch license. People watching replays seeing the engines
   > catch on fire just say, “That’s...
   
   Read More Reply
 * Unclear Engineer
   It seems more like the corrective actions are mostly already done.
   
   See 1700789411279966339View:
   https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1700789411279966339/photo/1 and
   1700789411279966339View:
   https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1700789411279966339/photo/2
   Edit: not sure what happened with those links. note that they end with "photo
   1" and "photo 2". The way I was viewing them and copied the URLs, they were
   different and showed the whole set...
   Read More Reply
 * View All 8 Comments

Show more comments

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