SpaceX
FAA will not investigate SpaceX Starship explosion
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has shared a reason not to investigate the Starship explosion at the Starbase test site that occurred on Wednesday, which is a good and bad news for the flight.
In a statement published to @BCCarCounters, the FAA has notified that “the activity and anomaly were not associated with licensed activity”. It means, FAA won’t investigate this Starship explosion or ground SpaceX’s test site and similar operations.
On June 18, SpaceX filled the Ship 36 with propellant for a static fire test prior to Flight 10, which resulted in a full-blown explosion at around 11 p.m. CT at a test stand at Starbase, Texas. It is confirmed that all personnel are safe due to the safety measures implemented at the test site.
Early findings on this matter suggest that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure, causing the ship to explode.
Source – StarshipGazer/X
This is the first time that the Starship design has ever experienced an anomaly for this reason. However, the SpaceX team is already involved in the investigation to get a clear view of the root cause of this major blast.
An FAA advisory expected Flight 10 to launch later this month, but this unfortunate event is likely to push the test mission to late July or August. This extended time would be accounted for vehicle’s design improvement and testing.
Read more in the articles linked below.
