SpaceX and Blue Origin must investigate this week’s big rocket tests, FAA says

The Federal Aviation Administration this week required Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to investigate what went wrong with their respective mega-rocket test flights.

controller Both companies said What is known as an “accident investigation” must be carried out. These findings involve companies and the FAA working together to understand what went wrong, why it went wrong, and take corrective action. In both cases, regulatory agencies must sign off before those rockets can fly again. It was not immediately clear how long that would take.

In the case of SpaceX, an explosion occurred during the seventh test-flight of the Starship rocket system that launched from Boca Chica, Texas, on Thursday. musk wrote The starship in X itself was overpressurized by excess gas as it ascended into space and eventually exploded. Officer of the company explanation Its website said there was a fire inside the ship.

The destruction of the starship created a debris field that lit up the skies over the Turks and Caicos Islands, prompting the FAA Some flights are slowed and even diverted Low fuel levels result in close airspace. According to the FAA, there were no reports of injuries, but the regulator said it was “working with SpaceX to confirm reports of public property damage in Turks and Caicos.”

SpaceX and the FAA already appear to be at odds on one particular detail about the explosion. The FAA has technically activated what’s known as a “debris response area,” which the administration says it only does if spacecraft debris falls outside the danger area that’s defined before a launch. SpaceX emphasizes on its website that “[a]NE surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazardous area.”

Hours before SpaceX’s rocket launch, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. the first time. The New Glenn rocket’s upper stage successfully made it into orbit, but the booster exploded on its way back down to attempt to land on a drone ship in the ocean.

The FAA said it was an anomaly during the “Blue Origin” mission, and no injuries or damage to government property were reported.