U.S. FAA orders SpaceX to investigate Starship Flight 12 mishap

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has halted SpaceX ambitious Starship flight test campaign, ordering a formal "mishap investigation" into the Super Heavy booster anomaly during its Flight 12 test on Wednesday. This directive locks down SpaceX Starbase facility and grounds the massive rocket until a root cause is identified and corrective actions are approved, posing yet another regulatory hurdle for the company's Mars and Moon aspirations. This latest incident, where the Super Heavy booster suffered a rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD) shortly after separation, marks the fourth such significant anomaly for Starship booster stage in 12 orbital-attempt flight test. The recurring booster failures underscore the immense engineering challenges of reusable super heavy-lift vehicles and put further pressure on SpaceX aggressive development timeline. NASA's Artemis Program, which relies on Starship as its Human Landing System (HLS) for crewed lunar missions, faces potential cascading delays as a result of these ongoing setbacks. SpaceX engineers are now working closely with FAA investigators, a process that historically has taken months, not weeks, for complex failures. Future Starship flights, including the highly anticipated Flight 13, are on hold indefinitely. The inquiry will scrutinize everything from engine performance to structural integrity and flight control software, with regulatory approval for a revised Orbital Launch License hinging on a comprehensive fix and a robust safety case. The aerospace world watches to see how quickly Elon Musk's company can navigate this latest regulatory gauntlet.