The Federal Aviation Administration has completed its investigations into SpaceX’s latest two Starship prototype tests, called SN8 and SN9, according to CNN’s Jackie Wattles. News from federal probes launched the launch of the SpaceX SN10 prototype to the legal limit, but on Sunday CEO Elon Musk seemed confident that the matter had been resolved, piulant that there are “good chances to fly this week!”
Last month, the news appeared that SpaceX violated its launch license with the SN8 high-altitude test flight in December, prompting a formal investigation by the FAA. The agency denied the proposed SpaceX upgrades to its license and did not give the green light to the launch, but the company continued with it anyway, CNET reported. The rocket successfully launched but then exploded during a landing attempt. An FAA spokesman now says the SN8 issue (i.e. the investigation into the license breach, was apparently okay with the whole part of the explosion) has been resolved, according to a tweet from Wattles this week.
As for the SN9, that it also exploded while attempting to land during a high-altitude test earlier this month, the agency found that it “failed within the limits of the FAA’s safety analysis.” It should be noted that the FAA’s SN9 investigation was a routine response to a re-entry failure like the one we saw on February 2nd.
“The FAA today closed the investigation into the mishap of the SpaceX Starship SN9 prototype on February 2, paving the way for the SN10 test flight pending approval by the FAA for license updates.” an agency spokesman told Wattles on Friday. “The FAA oversaw the SN9 mishap investigation conducted by SpaceX. The SN9 vehicle has failed within the limits of the FAA safety analysis. Its unsuccessful landing and explosion did not endanger the public or property.” .
WWith these investigations resolved, SpaceX should be clear on the launch of its S10 prototype now, though anyone assumes it will be. Whenever it ends up advancing with the release, Musk has loved that the S10 has a 60% chance of landing successfully.
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They’re not the worst odds I’ve ever seen. But if these spacecraft “will help humanity return to the moon and travel to Mars and beyond,” as states the company, they really have to figure out all this that explodes in flames.