ROCKETRY:...FAA Comes Down Hard On SpaceX...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | It was the highlight of last April, a powerful rocket ship roaring off its launching pad in nearby Boca Chica here. Hundreds gathered where they could find space, along a county road and in sand dunes on the beach at South Padre Island.

Enjoy the memory.

It'll be a while before you see another blast-off.

About that, this excerpt from texastribune.org: [ . . .The Federal Aviation Administration completed its investigation into SpaceX’s Starship rocket test launch that self-destructed in April above the Texas coast and sent debris and sand raining down over sensitive habitat and communities nearby. The FAA said the company can’t begin launching again at Boca Chica in Cameron County, where the test launch took place, until it corrects "multiple root causes" that led to the structural failure of the launch pad deck foundation.

The FAA sent a letter to SpaceX Friday that said it completed its investigation and identified over 60 "corrective actions" that include redesigns of vehicle hardware "to prevent leaks and fires" and the launch pad "to increase its robustness" before another launch can be considered.

"The closure of the mishap investigation does not signal an immediate resumption of Starship launches at Boca Chica," the FAA said in a statement. The FAA wouldn’t release the full report, saying it contains proprietary data and information not available for public release.

People with SpaceX did not immediately respond to comment, but posted an update Thursday that said that the first flight test for its Starship rocket was a "critical step" and "provided numerous lessons learned that are directly contributing to several upgrades being made to both the vehicle and ground infrastructure to improve the probability of success on future Starship flights."

In April, SpaceX’s 400-foot-tall Starship spun in circles minutes into its flight, then self-destructed over the Gulf of Mexico after reaching a height of 24 miles. The launch sent debris, including chunks of concrete, into sensitive animal habitats nearby.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that a debris cloud, containing pulverized concrete, spread as far as 6.5 miles north of the launch pad. ]

It's not as if SpaceX had announced its next launch date, but there were words earlier from honcho Elon Musk that a launch would come fairly soon after the crazy April lift-off.

Well, it turns out Musk was being a little optimistic.

As things stand, it'll be a spell before another rocket blows up over Brownsville.

But we do wonder: Is the much-celebrated Mars Mission still on the table?...

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