Elon Musk Says SpaceX Has Resolved 57 FAA-Demanded Fixes For Starship's Next Flight

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday that the company has implemented all the fixes demanded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Starship ahead of its second flight test.

What Happened: “Congrats to SpaceX for completing & documented the 57 items required by the FAA for Flight 2 of Starship!” the CEO wrote on Twitter.

The FAA said on Friday that it has closed its investigation into the explosion of Starship during its first flight test in April. The final report cited multiple root causes for the mishap and 63 corrective actions for the rocket manufacturer to take. These corrective actions include a redesign of the vehicle hardware and launchpad and the incorporation of additional reviews in the design process.

SpaceX has completed 57 actions thus far. The remaining 6, however, are for later flights and not the immediate next, Musk said. Most of the fixes left for the future include those pertaining to the improvement of raptor reliability.

Why It Matters: SpaceX conducted the first test launch of Starship on April 20. The rocket exploded in less than four minutes after take-off, damaging the launch pad at Starbase and raining down dust on the residents of Port Isabel, Texas.

Last week, Musk said that Starship — touted to be the biggest rocket ever and a major part of his dreams of making life "multi-planetary" by enabling human and cargo travel to Mars — is ready to launch and is now merely awaiting FAA license approval for its second flight test.

The initial launch license procured by SpaceX authorized it to conduct just one launch and the company will now have to apply for a modification of the license to allow for more launches. While applying for a modification, SpaceX will also have to demonstrate that it has implemented corrective measures, FAA had said.

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