FAA green light
The FAA confirmed on Friday that it issued a launch license for the Starship Flight 8 earlier this week.
“The FAA has determined that SpaceX meets all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements for suborbital testing flights,” a FAA spokesperson said in a statement.
The federal regulator is SpaceX7. Oversaw SpaceX-led investigation into SpaceX failures. SPACEX also participated in the investigation and determined that leaks and fires in the rear compartment or attic of the spacecraft will lead to engine closure and ultimate splits.
Engineers conclude that the leak is most likely caused by harmonic reactions several times stronger than expected, suggesting that vibrations during the ship’s climb into space resonate with the vehicle’s natural frequencies. This would have strengthened the vibrations beyond what the engineers would expect from ground testing.
Earlier this month, SpaceX completed a long static fire on the upper stage of the next spacecraft and tested hardware changes at multiple engine thrust levels. According to SpaceX, the results of the static fire informed changes to the fuel supply line to Starship’s Raptor Engines, adjustments to propellant temperatures, and new operating thrusts for the upcoming test flight.
“To address the potential flammability of spacecraft sections, new purge systems using additional vents and gaseous nitrogen will be added to the current generation of vessels, making the area more robust to propellant leaks,” SpaceX said. “A future upgrade of Starship will introduce the Raptor 3 engine, reducing attic volume and eliminating most of the joints that could leak into this volume.”
FAA officials were clearly pleased with all of this. The agency’s Commercial Space Flight Division completed a “Comprehensive Safety Review” and determined that the spacecraft could return to flight operations while the investigation into the Flight 7 failures remained open. This is nothing new. The FAA also used this safety decision last year to promote approval of the SpaceX launch license to help authorities investigate the disasters surrounding Starship and Falcon 9 rocket flights.
