FAA investigated the explosion of Starship spacecraft

The unmanned Starship system takes off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas on the evening of March 6, flying on Super Heavy booster than 70 m high. Although the first launch was planned, but less than 10 minutes, some of the Starship spacecraft’s engines on the upper floor stopped operating, causing the ship to lose control and explode, according to Space Flight Now. The fragments scattered along its flight.

The explosion led to the temporary blockade order, in which FAA stopped flights to major airports in Florida, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando. FAA then confirmed that the debris was why they had to take precautions. Many flights from Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale are delayed on average 30-45 minutes due to the accident.

According to SpaceX, Starship is still in the release corridor as directed and any remaining debris will fall in the fragment reaction area as planned. They also said that there are no toxic materials in debris and greatly affect marine life or water quality.

Currently, This is the second consecutive launch ending with an explosion (Starship’s 7th test flight encountered the same outcome in January due to leaks near the fuel containing liquid oxygen).

According to the FAA, the accident survey is designed to enhance the safety of the community, identify the root cause of the incident and find out solutions to avoid recurring incidents. FAA will take all steps in the accident investigation of SpaceX and need to go through SpaceX’s final report, including any remedial action.

Despite the failure, SpaceX is still committed to following the rapid development of versions, in which test flights are designed to push the Starship system limit. After the accident in January, SpaceX applied the fuel pathway, adjusting the exhaust valve and changing the engine thrust, but the failure of the 8th test flight indicated the company needs to adjust more.

While Starship’s long -term goal is to support the moon and Mars mission, including NASA’s Artemis program. SpaceX has not announced the timeline of the next Starship flight but is expected to submit reports to FAA with a remedy before continuing to test.