FAA Requires SpaceX Mishap Investigation After Starship Flight 12

The Federal Aviation Administration is requiring SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation into Starship Flight 12 before the company can launch Flight 13. The agency reached the decision after completing a thorough assessment of the May 22 mission and determining that the off-nominal performance of the Super Heavy booster, tail number Booster 19, resulted in a mishap.

During the ascent phase one of the 33 Raptor V3 engines on Booster 19 went out about one minute and 42 seconds into flight. Less than a minute later, at about the two-minute, 22-second mark, SpaceX began intentionally shutting down engines as it progressed toward stage separation. The staggered shutdown brought the booster from 32 down to five engines burning before separation began.

SpaceX’s on-screen graphics showed 12 out of 13 center engines ignited at the two-minute, 32-second mark, but several engines in the outer ring were out as the boostback burn approached, which was not the plan. Dan Huot, a member of the SpaceX communications team, said during the broadcast, “We are not seeing as many booster engines ignited as we expected for boostback, but we are seeing six good engines on ship. It looks like we just had an early boostback shutdown.”

SpaceX’s post-mission write-up stated that following stage separation the Super Heavy booster performed a directional flip maneuver and attempted its boostback burn. It was unable to light all planned engines and performed a partial boostback burn that ended early. The booster attempted to reignite its engines for the landing burn before experiencing a hard splashdown in the Gulf of America.

The Starship upper stage, tail number S39, was maneuvered to its intended splashdown site in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX forewent a planned re-ignition of one of the Raptor engines on S39 during its coast phase. The FAA did not identify the engine issue on S39 as a driving factor for the mishap investigation.

Such investigations are triggered by the FAA as part of its oversight of commercial spaceflight to ensure public safety. The agency lists nine potential causes, including impact of hazardous debris outside defined areas, failure to complete a launch as planned, and malfunction of a safety-critical system. The FAA confirmed there are no reports of public injury or damage to public property.

The FAA will oversee the SpaceX-led investigation, be involved in every step of the process, and approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions. The agency did not specify which provision of its 14 CFR Part 450 launch license was violated by the booster’s off-nominal performance.