FAA orders SpaceX to investigate Starship V3 booster failure

美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）下令 SpaceX 调查星舰 V3 助推器故障

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered SpaceX to investigate why its Starship booster failed during the company’s May 22 test flight, according to a statement released to TechCrunch on Wednesday. This means SpaceX will have to pause any further Starship test launches until the investigation is completed and the results are submitted to the FAA for approval, diminishing the chance that another will occur before the company’s anticipated IPO in mid-June. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 根据周三向 TechCrunch 发布的一份声明，美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）已下令 SpaceX 调查其星舰（Starship）助推器在 5 月 22 日试飞期间发生故障的原因。这意味着 SpaceX 在调查完成并将结果提交给 FAA 批准之前，必须暂停所有后续的星舰试飞。这也降低了该公司在 6 月中旬预期 IPO 之前再次进行试飞的可能性。SpaceX 未立即回应置评请求。

“After a thorough assessment of the operation, the FAA has determined the May 22 SpaceX Starship Flight 12 launch resulted in a mishap. The mishap involved the Super Heavy booster as it flew back to the Gulf of America after stage separation. There are no reports of public injury or damage to public property,” the FAA wrote. “The FAA will oversee the SpaceX-led investigation, be involved in every step of the process, and approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions.” FAA 写道：“在对此次行动进行全面评估后，FAA 已认定 SpaceX 5 月 22 日的星舰第 12 次飞行任务发生了事故。事故涉及超重型助推器在级间分离后飞回美国墨西哥湾的过程中出现的问题。目前没有收到人员受伤或公共财产受损的报告。FAA 将监督由 SpaceX 主导的调查，参与过程的每一步，并批准 SpaceX 的最终报告，包括任何纠正措施。”

The problem with the Starship booster occurred a few minutes into the flight, which was the first launch of SpaceX’s upgraded version of its super heavy rocket system. The first “V3” Starship made it through the point of maximum dynamic pressure and into space, where the booster was supposed to separate from the ship and return to the Gulf for a simulated landing in the water. The booster did separate from the ship. But it immediately experienced an apparent engine failure — or a possible series of engine failures — when it tried to perform the sustained burn that is meant to propel the booster back toward SpaceX’s launch site in South Texas. This led to the booster tumbling down toward the Gulf before most likely exploding on impact. 星舰助推器的问题发生在飞行几分钟后，这是 SpaceX 升级版超重型火箭系统的首次发射。首枚“V3”星舰成功通过了最大动压点并进入太空，按计划助推器应与飞船分离，并返回墨西哥湾进行模拟水上着陆。助推器确实与飞船分离了，但在尝试进行旨在将助推器推回 SpaceX 南德克萨斯州发射场的持续点火时，它立即出现了明显的发动机故障——或可能是一系列发动机故障。这导致助推器翻滚着坠向墨西哥湾，并在撞击时极有可能发生了爆炸。

SpaceX made a plethora of changes to how Starship works in this third version, with the intention of making the rocket far more reliable than it was in the previous 11 test flights. That included tweaks to the design of the booster, the inclusion of all-new third-generation Raptor engines, and upgrades to the Starship vehicle itself. Starship experienced its own failure after the booster separated, as it lost one of its six raptor engines. This contributed to SpaceX abandoning one of its testing goals for the flight, which was to do another sustained burn in orbit with Starship. SpaceX 在第三版星舰的工作方式上做了大量改进，旨在使火箭比前 11 次试飞更加可靠。这些改进包括对助推器设计的调整、采用全新的第三代猛禽（Raptor）发动机，以及对星舰飞船本身的升级。星舰在助推器分离后也遇到了故障，其六台猛禽发动机中的一台失效。这导致 SpaceX 放弃了此次飞行的一项测试目标，即在轨道上用星舰进行另一次持续点火。

SpaceX expects its rockets to fail in various ways during this development process, though the goal is to ultimately create a vehicle like the Falcon 9 that becomes not only reliable, but also reusable. Making reusable rockets is crucial to lowering the costs associated with sending heavy payloads to space. As it detailed in its IPO filing, SpaceX is thoroughly reliant on Starship becoming reliable and reusable in order to continue growing its Starlink service, which is by far the company’s biggest revenue generator and currently its only profitable business. SpaceX 预计其火箭在开发过程中会以各种方式失败，但最终目标是创造出像猎鹰 9 号（Falcon 9）那样不仅可靠而且可重复使用的运载工具。制造可重复使用的火箭对于降低向太空运送重型载荷的成本至关重要。正如其 IPO 文件中所述，SpaceX 完全依赖星舰变得可靠且可重复使用，以继续发展其星链（Starlink）服务，这是该公司目前最大的收入来源，也是目前唯一盈利的业务。

The FAA has ordered SpaceX to perform multiple mishap investigations during the development of Starship. The federal agency also ordered SpaceX rival Blue Origin to perform them as that company develops its own heavy-lift rocket, New Glenn. Just last week, the FAA cleared New Glenn to fly again. Blue Origin is expected to perform the fourth New Glenn launch attempt in the next month or so. FAA 在星舰开发过程中已多次下令 SpaceX 进行事故调查。该联邦机构还要求 SpaceX 的竞争对手蓝色起源（Blue Origin）在开发其重型运载火箭“新格伦”（New Glenn）时也进行此类调查。就在上周，FAA 批准了“新格伦”再次飞行。预计蓝色起源将在未来一个月左右进行“新格伦”的第四次发射尝试。