ABC News by Mary Kekatos 4/20/2023
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/live-updates/live-updates/spacex-launch/faa-investigating-starship-explosion-98725894?id=98720716FAA investigating Starship explosionThe Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the explosion of SpaceX's Starship that occurred a few minutes after liftoff.
The agency is responsible for protecting Americans during commercial space transportation launch and reentry operations.
"An anomaly occurred during the ascent and prior to stage separation resulting in a loss of the vehicle," the FAA said in a statement. "No injuries or public property damage have been reported."
"The FAA will oversee the mishap investigation of the Starship/Super Heavy test mission. A return to flight of the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety. This is standard practice for all mishap investigations."
SpaceX said the rocket's boosters did not properly separate following the launch.
-ABC News' Gina Sunseri
Elon Musk says next launch will be in 'a few months'SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated the team in a tweet and said the next launch would be later this year, but didn't give any specific dates.
"Congrats SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!" Musk tweeted. "Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months."
Musk also shared a video of the Starship rocket right after liftoff.
SpaceX congratulates team even after rocket self-destructsSpaceX congratulated the team behind the Starship rocket launch, even after it was forced to self-destruct when the boosters failed to separate.
"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary," SpaceX tweeted.
"Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting first integrated flight test of Starship!"
SpaceX said the team will be reviewing the data and working towards its next launch attempt.
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