On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration declared that SpaceX is not qualified to initiate another test flight of the Starship Super Heavy launch vehicle until the investigation of the April 2023 explosion is carried out and they comply with all corrective measures established by the FAA. The FAA is conducting a customary mishap investigation due to the "launch anomaly" of this size.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that SpaceX has not yet attained the necessary clearance for another test flight of its Starship Super Heavy launch vehicle. This statement contrasts with Elon Musk's post on X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday, wherein the CEO of SpaceX declared that the Starship was "ready to launch, awaiting FAA license approval." In April 2023, the first flight of the vehicle ended in an explosion, making it impossible for SpaceX to meet the standards set by the FAA for a second test flight. During the doomed launch, the rocket flew for over three minutes, but eventually lost multiple engines, causing substantial damage to the surrounding infrastructure and failing to reach space as a result of its uncontrolled tumbling. This resulted in a crater on the ground, chunks of concrete in nearby tanks as well as other equipment, and a 4-acre fire on state park land, while also leading to disruption of sensitive habitats that are inhabited by some endangered species.
The FAA has announced a mishap investigation into the Starship launch "anomaly" in a statement sent to CNBC on Wednesday night. According to the agency, which is responsible for safeguarding public welfare during commercial space transport launches and landings, they will not grant permission for another liftoff until SpaceX corrects the issues indicated in the examination and meets all legal stipulations of the license adaptation process. News of this development was first reported by Ars Technica. SpaceX has not responded to a request for comment as of yet. The FAA has been ordered by the Senate and House appropriations committees to provide them with a briefing on their investigation results prior to SpaceX executing upcoming Starship Super Heavy launches.
At present, NASA is relying solely on SpaceX to move individuals from the U.S. to space. With its Starship undertaking, SpaceX intends to place large science apparatus into orbit, and to transfer larger quantities of cargo and people efficiently to the Moon and eventually Mars. Last Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Musk, who is the leading shareholder of SpaceX, borrowed $1 billion from the firm in the same month he was finishing a leveraged buyout of the social media platform Twitter. The association between SpaceX's CEO and state and federal regulators and certain politicians is strained.
Musk has disregarded FAA mandates in recent times, as reported by The New Yorker in December 2020. This involved Musk driving SpaceX to defy the agency's orders in order to take a trial of the SN8 rocket, on a given date where the agency had specifically disallowed this act. The SN8 rocket eventually ended up exploding. Moreover, SpaceX proceeded to carry out tests of a new water deluge system on its Starship Super Heavy launchpad in South Texas without first acquiring appropriate environmental permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, as would normally be requi
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