Starship mishap investigation closed; Flight 8 failure still under review

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday that the mishap investigation into the midair explosion of Starship Flight 7 on Jan. 16 was closed on Friday.

The investigation, conducted by SpaceX and overseen by the FAA, concluded that “there were no public injuries and one confirmed report of minor vehicle damage in the Turks and Caicos Islands.”

The Starship malfunctioned and exploded over the Caribbean approximately eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff from Boca Chica. Turks and Caicos are a British Overseas Territory 90 miles north of Haiti and 1,600 miles east of the Boca Chica/Starbase launch site.

The FAA said it accepted the findings of the SpaceX-led investigation, which concluded that the probable root cause behind the loss of Starship S33 on Jan. 16 was “stronger than anticipated vibrations during flight (that) led to increased stress on, and failure of, the hardware in the propulsion system.”

“SpaceX identified 11 corrective actions to prevent a re-occurrence of the event,” the agency said. “The FAA verified that SpaceX implemented corrective actions prior to Flight 8.”

The FAA is likewise overseeing SpaceX’s investigation into the Flight 8 Starship mishap on March 6. Again, the Starship — S34 this time — was lost over the Caribbean less than nine minutes after liftoff from Boca Chica.

“The investigation remains open,” the agency said. “A return to flight of the Starship vehicle is based on public safety. SpaceX may not launch Starship again until the FAA accepts the final mishap investigation report or makes a return to flight determination and all other licensing requirements are met.”

Billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, posted March 7 on X that the Flight 8 failure was a “minor setback,” and that “the next ship will be ready in 4 to 6 weeks.”

Employees/residents of SpaceX’s complex at Boca Chica Village will vote on May 3 whether to legally incorporate the community as Starbase, Texas, after submitting the required number of signatures on a petition to Cameron County in December. The election will take place as part of the statewide uniform election on May 3, though only the residents of Boca Chica/Starbase can vote on the incorporation question.

If approved, Boca Chica would become legally incorporated as a “Type C municipality,” meaning a municipality with a population of between 201 and 4,999.

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