The Federal Aviation Administration said it would overlook an investigation into a SpaceX prototype rocket’s crash landing on Tuesday. The declaration comes after the FAA forced SpaceX to postpone the launch as it examined a previous explosion of the same rocket prototype.
The wrecked vehicle, SpaceX’s Starship SN9, was an early example for a rocket. The company hopes that it will carry the first humans to Mars. SpaceX launched the rocket in a high-level test flight for a hop test. The vehicle covered about brief 6 miles up in the air, floated for a moment and then steered a belly flop-like manoeuvre on the descent. It later made an explosive landing back on the launch pad. The premises saw substantial smoke clouds.
FAA’s statement
An inside spokesperson said in a statement, “The FAA’s top priority in regulating commercial space transportation is ensuring that operations are harmless and safe, even if there is an irregularity”. They are also referring the industry term for a launch failure. “The FAA will overlook the investigation of today’s landing mishap involving the SpaceX Starship SN9 prototype in Boca Chica, Texas. Although this was an uncrewed test flight, the investigation will detect the original cause of today’s accident. Moreover, they’ll look for possible opportunities to enhance safety further as the program advances.”
When the media asked the procedures for carrying out the investigation, the representative said: “We have nothing more to add this evening.”
But public FAA documents state that when a skyrocket “mishap” occurs, the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation may choose to conduct the investigation. Or approve the launch operator to investigate under FAA supervision.
SpaceX already has additional Starship prototype, SN10, assembled. It’s not clear when the corporation will launch it. Over the weekend, the company rolled the vehicle out a launch pad adjacent to where the SN9 took off.
