SpaceX has revealed that a fuel leak was behind the dramatic explosion of Starship Flight 9, but the company is already gearing up for its next mission. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officially closed its investigation into the May mishap, clearing the way for Flight 10, which is now targeted for no earlier than August 24. This marks the longest gap between Starship launches since the pause between Flights 4 and 5.
Flight 9 was notable as the first mission to reuse a Super Heavy booster.
SpaceX pushed the booster’s limits by landing it at a high angle of attack-an aggressive maneuver that ultimately caused a failure in the fuel transfer tube. The malfunction led to the booster’s destruction before splashdown. The upper stage also suffered a fuel tank leak during flight, forcing the mission to abort its payload deployment and planned in-space engine burn.
After replicating the failures on the ground, SpaceX redesigned and stress-tested the faulty components. The company faced another challenge when the upper stage intended for Flight 10 exploded on the test pad, prompting engineers to build a temporary stand-in launch pad to keep the program on track.
Flight 10 will be an important milestone, giving SpaceX another chance to prove the second-generation upper stage. The mission will attempt to deploy Starlink simulator satellites, perform an in-space burn, and even test a tower catch. Engineers will also experiment with new heat-shield tile materials and push the ship’s lower flaps to their limits. The booster, however, will not repeat the risky high-angle reentry and will instead perform a controlled splashdown after multiple engine tests and stage separation trials.