FAA suspends Falcon 9 launches to investigate failed booster landing

WASHINGTON – Falcon 9 launches are temporarily suspended as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigates any public safety impacts from the failed landing of a launch vehicle early on Aug. 28.

In a statement on August 28, the FAA said it was aware of the incident the same day a Falcon 9 rocket landed on a drone ship that had otherwise successfully launched and launched 21 Starlink satellites. After landing, flames erupted from the base of the rocket and the vehicle tipped over seconds later.

Although the incident caused no injuries or damage other than the loss of the launch vehicle, the FAA said in its statement that it is calling for an investigation. This will prevent SpaceX from conducting any further launches for the time being.

“Resumption of Falcon 9 launch vehicle flight operations is contingent upon the FAA determining that no system, process, or procedure related to the anomaly compromises public safety,” the FAA stated. “In addition, SpaceX may need to seek and receive FAA approval to amend its license to incorporate any corrective actions and to meet all other license requirements.”

However, the investigation does not have to be completed for SpaceX to resume launches. The FAA notes on its website that launch vehicle operators can request a “public safety determination” from the agency if the incident “did not involve safety-critical systems or otherwise endanger public safety.” If the FAA makes that determination, launches can continue while the investigation continues.

SpaceX has not released further details about the incident, but a company executive said he does not believe what happened during the launch vehicle landing posed a public safety concern.

“We are working as hard as we can to thoroughly understand the root cause and initiate corrective actions as quickly as possible,” Jon Edwards, vice president of Falcon launch operations at SpaceX, wrote on social media. “One thing we do know, however, is that this was purely a recovery issue and did not pose a threat to the primary mission or public safety.”

An industry source said in a background interview that how long it takes the FAA to review the safety issue and allow launches to resume depends on what caused the loss of the booster. A landing leg failure, for example, would likely be quickly resolved because it is not used during other phases of flight, but an engine malfunction could require additional investigation.

The FAA also halted Falcon 9 launches after an upper stage engine failure occurred during a Starlink launch on July 11. SpaceX received approval to resume launches two weeks later due to an FAA public safety decision.

The FAA’s announcement, however, delays upcoming Falcon 9 launches. That includes the Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission, which SpaceX had postponed hours before the Starlink launch because of poor weather forecasts for water landing sites off the Florida coast. At the time, SpaceX said it would not pursue launch opportunities in the early hours of August 28 or 29 and has not provided an update since.

“Our launch criteria are severely limited by the forecast weather conditions at splashdown,” said Jared Isaacman, the billionaire commander of the Polaris Dawn. published shortly after SpaceX announced the launch delay. “With no rendezvous with the ISS and limited life support consumables, we need to be absolutely certain about the reentry weather before launch.”

“We are currently just focusing on the weather recovering,” he said. said after the FAA announced its investigation into the booster landing anomaly. “I think this is still the gateway to our launch.”

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