The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will oversee the investigation into SpaceX's Starship SN9 prototype crash. This aims to strengthen safety protocols after the program's second explosion.
SpaceX's Starship SN9 prototype launched successfully on Tuesday, February 2, from southern Texas. Reaching 10 kilometers altitude, it began descent but one of its three Raptor engines failed to reignite. Unable to right itself, the vehicle suffered a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" (RUD)—an explosion.
This second prototype crash has led the FAA, under Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation Wayne Monteith, to launch a mishap investigation.
The FAA regulates U.S. civil aviation, authorizing SpaceX Starship test flights and setting no-fly zones around launch and landing sites.
This comes after reports of SpaceX violating federal safety regulations during SN8 clearance last December. SpaceX sought a waiver to exceed public risk limits, but flew despite FAA denial.
An FAA spokesperson explained: the probe will pinpoint the root cause and boost safety. "The FAA's top priority in commercial space transportation is ensuring operations remain safe, even during anomalies," per the agency's press release.
FAA guidelines mandate involvement in launch or landing accidents for these prototypes, or if payload damage tops $25,000.
Boca Chica's test area clears during flights, but nearby Port Isabel and South Padre Island communities justify scrutiny. After two crashes, FAA monitoring of Starship is essential.
