Last week, SpaceX announced that they were once again ready to attempt the launch of their spacecraft, Starship, into space and were awaiting approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to do so.
However, at the end of last week, the FAA announced that it would take some time before SpaceX receives approval to launch Starship again. The FAA does not seem to believe that SpaceX has taken sufficient measures to attempt another Starship launch. In a statement to CNBC, the agency said:
The FAA will not authorize another Starship launch until SpaceX implements the corrective actions identified during the mishap investigation and demonstrates compliance with all the regulatory requirements of the license modification process.
In a press release, the FAA further states that SpaceX must take 63 different actions before being granted permission to attempt another launch of Starship. Some of these include:
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 CEO Elon Musk wrote in a tweet that 57 of the actions required by the FAA for SpaceX to test Starship again have already been completed.
