SpaceX Starship Gets FAA Approval for Next Flight Despite Ongoing Investigation

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given SpaceX the green light for the next launch of its Starship, despite an ongoing investigation into the previous mission's failure. In a statement released on February 28th, the FAA announced that SpaceX could proceed with Flight 8, potentially launching as early as March 3rd.

This decision comes while the investigation into the January 16th mishap during Flight 7 remains open. “After completing the required and comprehensive safety review, the FAA determined the SpaceX Starship vehicle can return to flight operations while the investigation into the Jan. 16 Starship Flight 7 mishap remains open,” the agency stated. “The FAA is overseeing the SpaceX-led investigation.”

During Flight 7, telemetry from the upper stage was lost approximately eight and a half minutes after liftoff. The vehicle subsequently disintegrated, with some debris landing in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Fortunately, no injuries or significant damage were reported. SpaceX, in a February 24th statement, concluded its internal investigation, attributing the failure to a “harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing” that compromised propellant lines, leading to fires and engine shutdowns. The vehicle's autonomous flight termination system activated about three minutes after the loss of telemetry.

The FAA's updated launch license for Starship, revised on February 26th, now explicitly includes provisions for both suborbital and orbital flights—a significant change from previous versions. This strongly suggests that an orbital launch attempt is imminent. The revised license details activities for orbital missions, from liftoff to payload deployment or achieving a “first steady-state orbit,” and outlines re-entry procedures, emphasizing public safety.

Furthermore, the license modifies the start of pre-flight operations, shifting it from the installation of the flight termination system to the go/no-go poll before propellant loading, approximately 75 minutes prior to liftoff.