FAA Completes SpaceX Starship IFT-1 Investigation, 63 Corrective Actions Required

The FAA has closed the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy mishap investigation.The final report cites multiple root causes of the April 20, 2023, mishap and 63 corrective actions SpaceX must take to prevent mishap reoccurrence.

Corrective actions include redesigns of vehicle hardware to prevent leaks and fires, redesign of the launch pad to increase its robustness, incorporation of additional reviews in the design process, additional analysis and testing of safety critical systems and components including the Autonomous Flight Safety System, and the application of additional change control practices.

SpaceX have already begun to work on these corrective actions, including new engine purge vents on both the ship and booster, to prevent fires breaking out. There is also the addition of the new water cooled steel flame deflector, which increses the robustness of the pad, as can be seen by the reduced damage the pad has taken during static fires. SpaceX also performed a test of the upgraded Flight Termination System, which successfuly destroyed a test tank at the Massey's test site.

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The closure of the mishap investigation does not signal an immediate resumption of Starship launches at Boca Chica. SpaceX must implement all corrective actions that impact public safety and apply for and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all safety, environmental and other applicable regulatory requirements prior to the next Starship launch.

 Hopefully, SpaceX has already tackled most of these corrective actions, and can launch the next Starship flight in the coming weeks. Elon Musk has posted on X that Starship is ready for flight, and they're only waiting on the FAA to publish a launch license.

SpaceX Statement

Shortly after the FAA closed the mishap investigation, SpaceX issued an update on its website, stating that SpaceX has implemented many of the corrective actions found during the report, including actions that were not related to the failures during the test flight but would increase reliability in the futrure. These include a new electric powered Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system for the Raptor engines, as well as a hotsaging ring, which will make the stage separation proccess much simpler. 

"Testing development flight hardware in a flight environment is what enables our teams to quickly learn and execute design changes and hardware upgrades to improve the probability of success in the future. We learned a tremendous amount about the vehicle and ground systems during Starship’s first flight test. Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a fully reusable launch system capable of carrying satellites, payloads, crew, and cargo to a variety of orbits and Earth, lunar, or Martian landing sites." - SpaceX.

BACKGROUND

The FAA oversaw the SpaceX-led investigation to ensure the company complied with its FAA-approved mishap plan and other regulatory requirements. The FAA was involved in every step of the mishap investigation and granted NASA and the National Transportation Safety Board official observer status.

The mishap investigation report contains proprietary data and U.S Export Control information and is not available for public release.