FAA requires SpaceX-led mishap investigation earlier than resumption of Starship launches
The Federal Aviation Administration made the dedication after analyzing the outcomes of Starship Flight 12, which came about on Friday, Could 22.
The Federal Aviation Administration stated that SpaceX wants to finish a mishap investigation into the twelfth flight of its Starship-Tremendous Heavy rocket earlier than it could possibly launch Flight 13.
In a press release shared on Wednesday, the FAA stated that it accomplished a “thorough evaluation of the operation” of the Starship Flight 12 mission, which came about on Friday, Could 22. It decided that the off-nominal efficiency of the Tremendous Heavy booster, tail quantity Booster 19 “resulted in a mishap.”
“The FAA is requiring SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation,” the company stated. “The FAA will oversee the SpaceX-led investigation, be concerned in each step of the method, and approve SpaceX’s ultimate report, together with any corrective actions.”
Starship’s Raptor engines ignite throughout hot-staging separation pic.twitter.com/oNdU0Z4FQI
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026
In the course of the ascent part of the mission, one of many 33 Raptor V3 engines on the Tremendous Heavy booster, tail quantity B19, went out about 1 minute and 42 seconds into the ascent. Lower than a minute later, at concerning the 2 minute, 22-second mark, SpaceX started deliberately shutting down engines because it progressed in direction of stage separation.
The staggered shutdown introduced the booster from 32 down to 5 engines burning after which stage separation started. SpaceX’s on-screen graphics representing the engine standing confirmed 12 out of 13 middle engines had been ignited on the 2 minute, 32-second mark, however because the outer ring began re-igniting a number of engines had been proven to be out, which was not the plan.
“We’re not seeing as many booster engines ignited as we anticipated for boostback, however we’re seeing six good engines on ship,” stated Dan Huot, a member of the SpaceX communications staff, throughout SpaceX’s broadcast. “It appears to be like like we simply had an early boostback shutdown.”
In a post-mission write-up on its web site, SpaceX gave an early evaluation of what it noticed at that time in flight.
“Following stage separation, the Tremendous Heavy booster carried out a directional flip maneuver and tried its boostback burn. It was unable to mild all deliberate engines and carried out a partial boostback burn that ended early,” SpaceX wrote. “Tremendous Heavy tried to reignite its engines for the touchdown burn earlier than experiencing a tough splashdown within the Gulf of America.”
Whereas one of many three Raptor Vacuum engines on the Starship rocket’s higher stage (tail quantity S39), SpaceX was capable of maneuver that a part of the rocket to the supposed splashdown website within the Indian Ocean. Groups decided through the mission that they might forego a deliberate re-ignition of one of many Raptor engines on S39 throughout its coast part.
The FAA didn’t establish the engine problem on S39 as a driving issue for the SpaceX-led mishap investigation. Such an investigation is triggered by a dedication from the FAA as a part of its oversight position for industrial spaceflight to assist guarantee public security.
The company lists 9 potential causes for such a overview, together with the next:
- Impression of hazardous particles exterior of outlined areas
- Failure to finish a launch or reentry as deliberate
- Malfunction of a safety-critical system
In its assertion on Wednesday, the FAA confirmed that there “are not any reviews of public harm or injury to public property.” The company didn’t state particularly which piece of SpaceX’s 14 CFR (Code of Federal Laws) Half 450 launch license was violated through the off-nominal efficiency of B19, however famous that the FAA wants to achieve assurance {that a} return to flight wouldn’t adversely have an effect on public security.
Grounded once more
This isn’t SpaceX’s first rodeo although on the subject of mishap investigations. The corporate accomplished comparable assessments following the primary 4 launches of Starship-Tremendous Heavy, when it was in its Model 1 configuration, and three mishap investigations following Flights 7-9, which consisted of Model 2 rockets.
This newest pause from launching will trigger SpaceX to take a better have a look at its Raptor 3 engines, which made their debut on Flight 12. Whereas no public announcement has been made, the mixture of a failed boostback burn with the booster mixed with an engine out on the ship higher stage make it unlikely that SpaceX will try an orbital launch with Flight 13, which might additionally preclude a catch of the ship with the chopstick arms on the launch tower.
Moreover, SpaceX can also select to forego a catch of the Tremendous Heavy booster on Flight 13 as effectively and determine to repeat the comfortable splashdown within the Gulf deliberate for Flight 12.
Starship flip and touchdown burn on the finish of its twelfth flight take a look at pic.twitter.com/0iJUox3FJt
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 25, 2026
In its financial filing forward of an anticipated preliminary public providing, SpaceX stated that it aimed to start deploying its Starlink Model 3 satellites within the again half of 2026. It hasn’t supplied extra specifics as to when precisely that will occur.
“Our progress technique relies on our potential to extend our launch cadence and payload capability, which relies on the profitable growth of Starship at scale,” SpaceX wrote in its S-1 prospectus doc.
“Sudden design modifications, provide chain disruptions, anomalies, environmental points, and different unexpected technical challenges may lead to delays or failures to deploy Starship on our anticipated schedule, which might delay or impede our potential to attain our different enterprise goals, such because the deployment of our next-generation satellites, the enlargement of our satellite-to-mobile connectivity providers, and deployment of in-orbit AI compute infrastructure.”
SpaceX does have {hardware} in stream for Flight 13, which is anticipated to encompass Ship 40 and Booster 20. The corporate famous that it moved at the very least 10 Raptor engines from Booster 20 to Booster 19 after a 10-engine static hearth take a look at in March ended abruptly as a consequence of a ground-side problem.
It highlighted that take a look at through the first episode of its new in-house docu-series about Starship, which was printed within the weeks main as much as Flight 12. A launch date for the second episode hasn’t been introduced as of Could 27.
