FAA clears SpaceX to launch Starship after explosive failure rained debris over populated islands – CNN

Federal regulators have cleared the way for SpaceX to launch another test flight after its Starship spacecraft — part of the most powerful launch system ever constructed — exploded during a January test flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, said Friday that it will allow SpaceX to carry out the Starship system’s eighth test flight, which is colloquially referred to as Flight 8, while an investigation into the January mishap continues.

“The FAA issued a license modification authorizing the SpaceX Starship Flight 8 launch,” the agency said in a statement. “The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements for the suborbital test flight.”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had already begun advertising Flight 8 on social media. At first, the company said it would aim to launch the test flight on Friday but later rescheduled that target for Monday. Liftoff is expected to occur from the company’s facilities in South Texas that afternoon.

The January Starship mishap occurred over the North Atlantic after the 171-foot (52-meter) Starship separated from the Super Heavy rocket booster that hauled it toward space.

The debris caused flight disruptions, and one piece of detritus struck a vehicle on the island of South Caicos, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

No other instances of property damage or injury were reported, though residents of the archipelago of Turks and Caicos told CNN they found debris from the spacecraft littering beaches and roadways.

Turks and Caicos officials met with SpaceX personnel in late January to “develop a recovery plan for debris,” according to a public notice.

That plan was approved by the local government on February 13, according to a notice posted to social media. The contents of the plan, however, were not provided.

Neither SpaceX nor the Turks and Caicos National Security Secretariat responded to a request for comment.

Alizee Zimmermann, executive director of the Turks and Caicos Reef Fund, told CNN on February 26 that residents are still finding rubble more than a month after the explosion.

“A lot of (the debris) has broken down or is now buried in the sargassum and seaweed that rolls in,” Zimmerman said via text.

SpaceX has sought to convey to residents that the Starship debris will not harm the local ecosystem, according to a SpaceX document obtained by CNN.

Hexagon-shaped heat shield tiles were among the most prolific type of debris found by residents. In a document SpaceX provided to some residents, which CNN obtained, the company states the “high-grade silica” tiles are “highly resistant to degradation” but they have “no toxic risks.”

The company also shared a photo of a burger and fries sitting on a square plate that appears to be made of the same material with the caption: “Starbase restaurant serves food on the thermal tiles.”

Starbase is the name SpaceX gave to its facilities in South Texas.

In a statement, SpaceX said the Flight 7 explosion was probably caused by a leak in the aft — or rear — section of the vehicle, near a tank that holds super-chilled liquid oxygen, or LOX, a type of rocket propellant.

That leak likely led to an increase in pressure, and a fire broke out, the company said.

Vibrations caused by the sonic conditions of flight might have been the root cause of the issue, according to the statement.

SpaceX also said it lost contact with Starship before the vehicle broke apart, but post-flight analysis determined that built-in safety systems “did trigger autonomously.”

Rocket safety systems typically include software designed to blow up a malfunctioning vehicle to prevent large, damaging pieces of debris from reaching the ground.

SpaceX conducted a ground test of the Starship on deck for Flight 8 to attempt to replicate the vibration issues. The company said what mission teams learned prompted them to alter lines that feed fuel to some of the Starship’s engines, tweak propellant temperatures, and adjust the vehicle’s “operating thrust target” — or how much power SpaceX aims for the engines to give off during flight.

Starship also has new vents and a “purge system” that can use nitrogen to help flush out fuel leaks and make the aft area less flammable, according to SpaceX.

Friday’s mission is expected to offer a second chance to achieve the objectives taken off the table when Starship abruptly exploded about 10 minutes into Flight 7, which was expected to be an hour-long test.

Those goals include an attempt to deploy mock satellites mid-journey, an objective SpaceX did not get a chance to test during Flight 7.
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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/28/science/spacex-starship-flight-8-faa-approval/index.html