The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given SpaceX’s flagship Falcon 9 rocket the green light to resume flight.
The Falcon 9 has been grounded since Sept. 28, when a problem occurred with the rocket’s upper stage during the launch of NASA’s Crew 9 astronaut mission. (Falcon 9 launched the European asteroid probe Hera on October 7, but that was a one-time exception granted by the FAA.)
“The FAA notified SpaceX on October 11 that the Falcon 9 aircraft have been cleared to return to normal flight operations,” agency officials said in an emailed statement Friday afternoon. “The FAA has reviewed and accepted the SpaceX-led investigation results and corrective actions for the accident that occurred on the Crew 9 mission (September 28).”
Although the Crew-9 accident did not affect the mission’s success, it resulted in the upper stage falling to Earth outside the planned disposal area, making it the third Falcon 9 accident in less than three months. This resulted in an accident.
Related: Falcon 9: SpaceX’s flagship rocket
The first incident occurred on July 11, when 20 of SpaceX’s Starlink Internet satellites were lost due to an upper stage propellant leak. As a result, the Falcon 9 was grounded for approximately two weeks. Then, on August 28, Starlink’s launch was successful, but the Falcon 9’s first stage was unable to land safely. The rocket flew again just three days later.
The FAA said in a statement Friday that it has concluded its SpaceX-led investigation into the Falcon 9 accidents that occurred on those two missions.
SpaceX is still waiting for FAA approval for the fifth test flight of its Starship mega-rocket, which the company is developing to help humans settle the moon and Mars.
Elon Musk’s company wants to launch its Starship mission on Sunday (October 13) and is confident it will happen. “We expect to receive regulatory approval in time for the October 13th flight,” SpaceX said in a statement. friday post With X.
