The FAA has imposed a flight ban on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has imposed a temporary flight ban on SpaceX‘s reusable Falcon 9 rocket following a failed landing attempt during a recently conducted Starlink launch mission. On Wednesday, the first stage booster of the rocket, which successfully placed satellites into orbit, turned into a fireball during its return to Earth and fell into the Atlantic Ocean. This incident also ended Falcon 9’s streak of 267 successful landings.

The FAA announced that it has launched an investigation into the incident. An FAA spokesperson stated in an interview with Reuters, “The incident was related to a failure of the Falcon 9 booster rocket during its landing on the sea platform. No injuries or damage to public property have been reported.” They also added, “The return to flight of the Falcon 9 booster rocket is contingent upon the FAA’s assessment that any systems, processes, or procedures related to the anomaly did not affect public safety.”

This flight ban could lead to further delays for SpaceX’s high-profile Polaris Dawn mission, which plans to carry four astronauts into orbit and conduct the first private spacewalk. The launch of the Polaris mission was expected this week; however, it was postponed due to bad weather conditions, and no new date has been set yet.

• Generally, FAA investigations are conducted alongside SpaceX’s own internal reviews.
• This process is usually completed quickly.
• SpaceX is facing a flight ban for the second time this year; the first ban lasted only 15 days.
• It is quite rare for major rockets used in space missions to receive flight bans.
• The last ban before the two imposed this year occurred in 2016.