Yes, The FAA Has Grounded Starship

There have been videos pushing that idea starting Sunday at the latest, but even looking at one or two of them, I couldn't get something I could trace.  This morning, I got a link to Flying magazine's article that confirms the story, saying that the FAA has grounded Starship while what's essentially an accident investigation is completed, as if it was the first flight of a commercial airplane and they have to decide if it will be allowed to fly again.  

The FAA confirmed this in an April 20 statement: “An anomaly occurred during the ascent and prior to stage separation resulting in a loss of the vehicle. No injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA will oversee the mishap investigation of the Starship / Super Heavy test mission.”

An FAA spokesperson told FLYING that mishap investigations, which are standard in cases such as this, “might conclude in a matter of weeks,” but more complex investigations “might take several months.”

Most of the Flying article is probably things you already know about; talking about the damage that was apparent early on, the reports from nearby and Port Isabel about the dust falling on everything within minutes of the launch, broken windows and hearing loud sounds. 

The City of Port Isabel said that there is no “immediate concern for people’s health,” but environmental groups are holding judgment until a full investigation can be completed. 

Spokespeople for the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity noted that the particulate emissions may be unsafe to touch or breathe in, and samples will need to be collected and examined to dispel any concerns.

Why sand from a beach six miles away, or even concrete particles the same size as sand, should be dangerous after being thrown by strong winds, I don't know and they don't say.  They mention the noise being dangerous to wildlife in the Boca Chica area, but no mention of how animals at other launch sites react.  The noise levels aren't there all the time, and it's pretty routine in any launch video to see birds flying when the noise starts, presumably going back when the noise lets up within a minute or two. (You should see the alligators on the Cape when a big rocket launches.)

Flying mentions a reporter named Lavie Ohana who was present for the test flight.  Her article on Medium.com is an interesting read.   Flying's emphasis was that she called it “one of the loudest launches I’ve ever been at”- which it should be since it's the most powerful rocket in the world.  While she says, “In terms of the experience of simply witnessing it first hand, it was possibly the single coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I am so incredibly glad I flew out here to see it, and I will be back for Flight 2,” she's left feeling the vehicle is deeply troubled and won't fly until next year without massive changes.  I don't know that she's qualified to judge that, especially since we knew even less than we do now back on the 21st when she posted that article. 

Sometimes, what appears to be a complex set of problems can come from one, simple root cause.  Sometimes big problems can be fixed quickly by throwing big teams at them.  It's also true that some big problems can't be solved by throwing a big team at them.

The most optimistic things we've heard about the next launch was Elon Musk's early reaction that this can be repaired in "one to two months" but that was before the FAA got involved again.  The FAA is probably going to slow things down more.  Once again, SpaceX could be waiting on them for the next launch permit - after this mishap investigation.  

Unfortunately, there's no good news here to relay.  While Flying goes on to emphasize the reports of a guy who's apparently opposed to the operations at Boca Chica, their source (Politico) goes into the political machinations as various congress critters talk about how they can regulate more.  Yet they conflate this experimental flight of new rocket with space tourism.