FAA orders SpaceX to investigate Starship booster mishap

By David Shepardson

Wed, May 27, 2026 at 12:34 PM EDT 1 min read

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration ordered SpaceX to investigate why ‌its Starship booster suffered a mishap and ‌crashed into the Gulf of Mexico during a test flight ​last week, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday.

The FAA said it determined the SpaceX Starship Flight 12 launch on May 22 resulted in a mishap that involved ‌its Super Heavy ⁠booster as it flew back to the Gulf of Mexico after stage separation.

SpaceX ⁠did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The FAA added that there were no reports of ​injuries to ​members of the public ​or damage to public ‌property. The FAA said it will oversee the SpaceX-led investigation, be involved in every step of the process, and approve the company's final report, including any corrective actions.

The probe is designed to boost ‌public safety, determine the ​cause of the mishap, and ​identify actions to ​prevent it from happening again.

The FAA said ‌it will approve a ​return to flight ​of the Starship-Super Heavy vehicle after ensuring any system, process, or procedure related to the ​mishap does ‌not affect public safety.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Juby ​Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shilpi ​Majumdar and Paul Simao)