The Federal Aviation Administration has ended its investigation into SpaceX’s last two Starship prototype tests, called SN8 and SN9, according to CNN’s Jackie Wattles. News from the federal probes throws the launch of SpaceX’s SN10 prototype into a legal limbo, but on Sunday, CEO Elon Musk looks confident that the matter has been resolved, tweet that there’s a good chance of flying this week! ‘
Last month, news surfaced that SpaceX violated its launch license with its SN8 high-flying test flight in December, prompting a formal investigation by the FAA. The agency denied SpaceX’s proposed updates to its license and did not ease the launch, but the company did so anyway, CNET reported. The rocket was successfully launched, but then exploded during a landing attempt. An FAA spokesman now says the SN8 case – that is, their investigation into the breach of the license – which was apparently good with the whole blast section – has since been settled, according to a tweet from Wattles this week.
As for the SN9, which it also exploded While the agency tried to land during a high test earlier this month, it found that it “failed within the bounds of the FAA safety analysis.” It should be noted that the FAA’s SN9 investigation was a routine response to a failure of accession like the one we saw on February 2nd.
“The FAA has closed its investigation into the February 2 SpaceX Starship SN9 prototype crash and has been waiting its way for the SN10 test flight pending the FAA’s approval of license updates,” a spokesman for the agency said. Told Wattles on Friday. ‘The FAA oversaw the SN9 crash investigation conducted by SpaceX. The SN9 vehicle failed within the limits of the FAA safety analysis. Its failed landing and explosion did not endanger the public or property. ”
WWith these investigations, SpaceX should make it clear to launch its S10 prototype now, though someone guesses when it will be. When it finally starts with the launch, Musk estimated that the S10 has a 60% chance of landing successfully.
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Not the worst chance I’ve ever seen. But if these spacecraft ‘will help mankind to return to the Moon and travel to Mars and beyond’, as the company claims, they really need to find out that this whole thing is bursting into flames.