The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has completed its investigation into the cause of death of Starship during the second test flight on November 18, 2023.

SpaceX experts reported that the first stage of the super-heavy rocket operated normally during flight and successfully launched all 33 Raptor engines. After performing a “hot separation” of the stages in which Starship separated from the Super Heavy, the first stage was supposed to make a soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico. However, when the Super Heavy started its engines, it exploded. This situation was later attributed to a problem with the supply of liquid oxygen to the Raptor engines: “The most likely cause of the failure was the clogging of the filter through which liquid oxygen was supplied to the engines, resulting in loss of fuel. The pressure at the inlet of the Urbano pumps for oxidizer eventually led to a single engine and missile losses happened.”

When the Super Heavy ran into trouble, the six Raptor engines in the Starship’s upper stage were operating normally, but at that moment in the Starship’s aft section, when the liquid oxygen ventilation system was activated, it leaked and caused a fire. fire and subsequent loss of communication between onboard Starship computers. At that moment, the flight termination system was activated and Starship exploded.

There are 17 corrective measures that SpaceX must complete before it can receive an FAA license for the next Starship launch, which could occur in March.