Launches Falcon 9 The flight was temporarily suspended while the Federal Aviation Administration reviewed the potential public safety implications of the launch vehicle’s failed landing early Aug. 28.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement on August 28 that it became aware of the incident in the early hours of the day the launch vehicle was launched. Falcon 9 A drone landed during the successful launch of 21 Starlink satellites. After landing, flames erupted from the base of the launch vehicle and the vehicle overturned seconds later.

Although the incident did not result in any injuries or damage other than the loss of the launch vehicle, the FAA said in a statement that an investigation is needed and will now prevent SpaceX from conducting additional launches.

“The return to flight of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle is contingent upon the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the anomaly does not impact public safety,” the FAA said. “In addition, SpaceX may be required to obtain approval from the FAA to modify its license to include any corrective actions and comply with all other licensing requirements.”

But the investigation doesn’t have to be complete for SpaceX to resume launches. The FAA says on its website that if the incident “does not involve safety-critical systems or otherwise threaten public safety,” launch vehicle operators can request a “public safety determination” from the agency. If the FAA makes that determination, launches can continue while the investigation continues.

SpaceX has not released any additional details about the incident, but a company executive said it did not believe what happened to the launch vehicle after landing was a public safety issue.

“We are working hard to fully understand the root cause and take corrective action as quickly as possible,” John Edwards, SpaceX’s vice president of Falcon launch vehicles, wrote on social media. “What we do know is that this was a purely rescue issue and posed no threat to the primary mission or public safety.”

An industry source speaking on behalf of the story said the time it takes for the FAA to review the safety issue and allow launches to resume will depend on what caused the launch vehicle to be lost. For example, a landing leg failure would likely be resolved quickly since it was not used during other phases of flight, but an engine failure of some kind would require further investigation.

The FAA also suspended Falcon 9 launches due to an upper stage engine failure during the July 11 Starlink launch. SpaceX received FAA approval to resume launches two weeks later due to public safety decisions.

But the FAA’s announcement does postpone future launches for the Falcon 9. That includes SpaceX’s special Polaris Dawn astronaut mission, which it postponed just hours before Starlink’s launch due to poor weather forecast for tidal areas off the coast of Florida. At the time, SpaceX said it would not launch in the early morning hours of Aug. 28 or 29, and has not provided an update since then.

“Our launch criteria are severely limited due to forecast weather conditions related to high tides,” Polaris Dawn’s billionaire commander, Jared Isaacman, tweeted shortly after SpaceX announced the launch delay. “With no ISS rendezvous and limited life support supplies, we need to be absolutely certain of the weather for re-entry prior to launch.”

“Right now we’re just focusing on improving the weather conditions,” he said after the FAA announced an investigation into the launch vehicle landing anomaly. “I think that’s still a starting point for us.”