FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration opened public scoping for a programmatic environmental impact statement covering proposed SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy operations at Starbase. The PEIS will evaluate a maximum capacity of up to 456 annual launches from Starbase and up to 912 annual landings there.

The Federal Aviation Administration determined that SpaceX did not need to conduct a formal mishap investigation after Flight 14. The determination covered events involving Ship 41 and Super Heavy Booster 21 within the authorized activity scope.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued license authorization for SpaceX Starship–Super Heavy Flight 14 launch and reentry operations. Aviation Week reported the authorization on September 27.

The Federal Aviation Administration operational plan listed a September 18, 2026 primary launch window for Starship Flight 14, with September 19 as backup. Spaceflight Now reported that the mission had been delayed from September 15.

The Federal Aviation Administration published notice that its final environmental assessment and FONSI/ROD for expanded Starship contingency-reentry operations and an additional Starbase landing trajectory were available. The notice stated that SpaceX must obtain a vehicle-operator-license modification before using additional Pacific Ocean contingency landing areas.

On May 27 the FAA had determined that the loss of the Super Heavy booster on its return during Flight 12 was a mishap requiring an investigation. On July 13 it accepted SpaceX's final report, which identified heat effects on propulsion components and engine-alarm settings as probable causes, and said SpaceX could proceed with Flight 13 once licensing requirements were met.

The FAA closed the Flight 9 mishap investigation and stated that SpaceX could proceed with Flight 10 launch operations. The regulator identified failure of a fuel component as the probable cause of the Starship loss.

The FAA closed the Flight 8 mishap investigation after accepting eight corrective actions. The final report attributed the Starship loss to a Raptor hardware failure that caused propellant mixing and ignition.

The FAA required a mishap investigation focused on the Flight 9 Starship loss. It treated the Super Heavy loss as a test-induced-damage exception.

The FAA issued a Starship return-to-flight determination and authorized Flight 9 for launch. The Flight 8 investigation had not yet been formally closed.

The FAA's final tiered environmental assessment found that raising the Starbase launch cadence from five to 25 a year, with up to 25 landings of each stage, would not significantly affect the human environment, so no environmental impact statement was needed. Up to three launches could be at night, with night landings only offshore. The decision matched a draft issued the previous November.

The FAA closed the Flight 7 mishap investigation and accepted 11 SpaceX corrective actions. The final report attributed the Starship loss to flight vibrations that stressed and failed propulsion-system hardware.

Super Heavy was caught for the third time, but before the end of its ascent burn Starship suffered an energetic event in its aft section that took out several Raptors, followed by loss of attitude control and contact about nine and a half minutes in. Debris fell over the Bahamas and the FAA briefly held flights at Florida airports. It was the second consecutive loss of a Block 2 ship, and the FAA again required an investigation.

After a safety review the FAA determined Starship could return to flight operations while the mishap investigation into the January 16 loss of the Flight 7 ship remained open, and the same day issued a licence modification for Flight 8, covering a Super Heavy tower catch attempt and a Starship water landing in the Indian Ocean. The pattern of flying before an investigation formally closed recurred on later flights.

The first flight of the redesigned Block 2 ship ended after about eight and a half minutes when a fire in the aft section caused the vehicle to break apart, with debris visible from the Turks and Caicos Islands and airliners diverted. The booster was caught by the tower for the second time. SpaceX opened an investigation with the FAA and set up a debris hotline; the FAA required a mishap investigation before the next flight.

The FAA determined Starship could return to flight operations while the Flight 3 investigation remained open. The determination remained subject to other license requirements.

The FAA said SpaceX must implement every corrective action affecting public safety and obtain a licence modification before flying again; the actions included hardware redesigns to prevent leaks and fires, a more robust launch pad, extra design reviews, more testing of the autonomous flight safety system and tighter change control. SpaceX, which had already stacked Ship 25 on Booster 9, said it had built a hot-staging separation system and electric thrust vector control for the next flight. The licence came on November 15.

The FAA published its Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Starship/Super Heavy operations at Boca Chica. It issued a mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision and required mitigation measures for future licenses or permits.