Authorities investigate SpaceX spacecraft explosion...Stop Starship Flights

The large spacecraft Starship being developed by Elon Musk's space company SpaceX has come under investigation by authorities after it exploded during a test flight.

"We call on SpaceX to conduct an incident investigation into the loss of Starship aircraft that occurred during the January 16 launch," the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

Shortly after the Starship aircraft exploded the previous day, the Federal Aviation Administration said it "activated the residual damage response zone and caused the aircraft to slow down or pause at the departure location" shortly after the spacecraft's debris fell.

It said it would participate in all stages of the SpaceX-led accident investigation process and then go through the process of approving SpaceX's final report, including corrective action, adding that "a resumption of flights is only possible if we determine that all systems or procedures related to the accident do not affect public safety."

This means that Starship's flights will be suspended until approved by the FAA.

SpaceX launched Starship at 4:37 p.m. local time on the 16th for its seventh Earth orbit test flight on Boca Chica Beach in southern Texas, but it exploded in the air after the second stage spacecraft was separated from the first stage rocket booster.

CEO Musk also posted a video on X (X, former Twitter) showing the debris of the exploded Starship pouring down like rain from the sky.

Starship is a super-large rocket and spacecraft that Musk has developed with the goal of reaching the moon and pioneering Mars so that humans can migrate.

Starship's two-stage spacecraft is 52 meters long and 9 meters in diameter and is designed to load 100 people and cargo inside, and when combined with the strongest rocket ever super heavy (71 meters long), the total length of the projectile is 123 meters.

Starship's Earth orbit test flight was an unmanned flight with no astronauts on board or cargo, which began in April 2023 and took place seven times.