The Federal Aviation Administration has ended its investigation into SpaceX’s last two Starship prototype tests, dubbed SN8 and SN9. Jackie Wattles from CNN News from the federal probes pitched the launch of SpaceX’s SN10 prototype legally, but on Sunday, CEO Elon Musk seemed confident the matter has been resolved, tweeting that there is a “good chance of flying this week!”
Last month, news surfaced that SpaceX violated its launch permit with its high-altitude SN8 test flight in December, prompting a formal investigation by the FAA. The agency denied SpaceX’s proposed updates to its license and didn’t give the go-ahead for the launch, but the company went ahead anyway, CNET reportedThe missile was launched successfully but then exploded during a landing attempt. An FAA spokesperson now says the SN8 issue – that is, their license breaking investigation, they were apparently okay with the entire blast part – has since been resolved, according to a Wattles tweet this week.
As for the SN9, that also exploded while attempting to land during a high-altitude test earlier this month, the agency found it “failed within the confines of FAA safety analysis.” It should be noted that the SN9 investigation was from the FAA a routine response to a failure of the return, as we saw on February 2.
“The FAA today closed its investigation into the SpaceX Starship SN9 prototype accident on Feb. 2 and cleared the way for the SN10 test flight pending approval of the license updates by the FAA,” a spokesman for the US said. desk at Wattles on Fridays. The FAA has overseen the SN9 accident investigation conducted by SpaceX. The SN9 vehicle failed within the limits of the FAA safety analysis. The failed landing and explosion did not endanger the public or property. “
W.eh these studies have been settled, it should be clear that SpaceX is now launching its S10 prototype, although it’s a mystery when that will be. When it does eventually go through with the launch, Musk has estimated that the S10 has a 60% chance of landing successfully.
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Not the worst odds I’ve ever seen. But if these spacecraft are going to “help humanity return to the moon, and travel to Mars and beyond,” as the company claimsThey really need to find out that this whole thing goes up in flames.