Elon Musk Says SpaceX Completed All Corrective Actions for Next Starship Launch

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on September 10 that the company has completed all of the corrective actions required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before it can conduct a second launch of its Starship/Super Heavy rocket.

Musk released images of a spreadsheet with the 63 corrective actions resulting from the failed maiden flight of Starship/Super Heavy on April 20, 2023. Six of the corrections were listed as future actions that Musk said SpaceX does not have to make before the next flight.

“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,” the FAA said in a statement.

The first Starship launch in April ended, four minutes after launch, with an explosion that caused serious damage to the pad, sent debris flying into sensitive wildlife areas, and caused a fire that burned several acres of a state park (although it was reported to have not killed any of the area’s protected wildlife). The flight safety system also failed to immediately destroy the rocket when it veered off its planned trajectory.

The corrective actions came out of a SpaceX-led mishap investigation that was overseen by the FAA. The agency said it had also granted official observer status to representatives of NASA and the National Transportation Safety Board. A full list of the corrective actions, and their current status according to SpaceX, is below.

List of Corrective Actions
Starship/Super Heavy

Last week, the FAA announced it had closed the mishap investigation, meaning that officials were satisfied with the conclusions and actions SpaceX proposed to address the causes of the launch failure.

“The FAA conducted a final review of the mishap report, dated August 21, 2023,” the agency said in a letter to SpaceX. “The FAA has been provided with sufficient information and accepts the root causes and corrective actions described in the mishap report. Consequently, the FAA considers the mishap investigation that SpaceX was required to complete to be concluded.”

The FAA licensed SpaceX to conduct a single launch. The company must apply for a modification of the license and demonstrate compliance with all corrective actions before it can conduct a second launch.