The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given SpaceX's Starship Flight 9 the green light. In an email sent to reporters moments back, the FAA shared that "Starship Flight 9 is authorized for launch" after the agency reviewed Flight 8's mishap and confirmed that SpaceX had addressed all safety considerations. The FAA's approval comes just as SpaceX ships the upper-stage spacecraft for Starship Flight 9 back to its production facilities after testing what appeared to be the rocket's fuel pumps or its tanks.
FAA Expands Hazard Area For SpaceX's Starship Flight 9
As part of its release, the FAA shared that it conducted two environmental assessments related to the Starship program. The first of these allows SpaceX to launch up to 25 flights a year from its Texas facilities, while the second is for airspace closures.
Starship Flights 7 and 8 created significant disturbances in the airspace over the Carribean as flights were re-routed and diverted to avoid getting hit by debris. SpaceX maintained after the flights that all debris was within the predetermined hazard zones, but the nature of the mishaps was unlike any seen previously for the Starship program.
The FAA added that it is "in close contact and collaboration with the United Kingdom, Turks & Caicos Islands, Bahamas, Mexico, and Cuba as the agency continues to monitor SpaceX's compliance with all public safety and other regulatory requirements." The previous two Starship flights, both of which saw the upper-stage spacecraft explode soon after separating from the Super Heavy booster, sent debris raining over these regions.
As part of securing approval for Starship Flight 9, the FAA required SpaceX to update its safety analysis by incorporating data from all previous Starship flights. The update will enable SpaceX to determine the hazard areas for Flight 9 and remove any risks to aircraft or people in the rocket's flight path.
The regulator noted that the updated "flight safety analysis includes population exposure risk (regardless of where that population is located on the flight path), the probability of failure of the vehicle, and debris propagation and behavior, among other considerations."
The new analysis and the fact that Starship Flight 9 will reuse a Super Heavy booster for the first time has led to expanded "hazard areas both in the U.S. and other countries," the FAA added. It is unclear whether SpaceX aims to catch the Flight 9 booster, which first flew on Flight 7, with the launch tower arms.
Additionally, SpaceX will launch Starship Flight 9 during non-peak air traffic hours. The liability insurance for Starship Flight 9 is $500 million and the updated hazard area covers "1,600 nautical miles and extends eastward from the Starbase, Texas, launch site through the Straits of Florida, including the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands," according to the FAA. This is almost twice the hazard area of Flight 8, which covered 885 nautical miles.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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