Overview

• The FAA closed its Flight 9 mishap review after accepting SpaceX’s findings that a fuel-distribution diffuser failure and a COPV fault caused the vehicle loss with no harm to the public.
• Regulators expanded SpaceX’s Texas launch license to permit up to 25 Starship flights per year.
• SpaceX installed a redesigned main tank pressurization diffuser, enhanced COPV inspection protocols and introduced new non-destructive evaluation methods to prevent recurrence.
• Flight 10 is set to lift off August 24 at 6:30 p.m. CDT from Starbase with plans to deploy simulated Starlink satellites and test an in-space relight of a Raptor engine.
• To reduce risk, the mission will omit a tower catch in favor of a Gulf of Mexico splashdown and will trial revised landing-burn profiles alongside reinforced reentry tiles.