Talk of Titusville queried the FAA this morning to get a definitive statement from the agency as to whether it would require an investigation into the failed landing of Booster B1062 on last night’s Starlink 8-6 mission. Their reply is as follows:

The FAA is aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starlink Group 8-6 mission that launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on August 28. The incident involved the failure of the Falcon 9 booster rocket while landing on a droneship at sea. No public injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA is requiring an investigation.

Background
  
An investigation is designed to further enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again. 
  
The FAA will be involved in every step of the investigation process and must approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions. 

A return to flight of the Falcon 9 booster rocket is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the anomaly does not affect public safety. In addition, SpaceX may need to request and receive approval from the FAA to modify its license that incorporates any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements. 

-Federal Aviation Administration, August 28, 2024

The FAA also noted that the the information they provided is preliminary and subject to change.

Public Safety

Given that most Falcon 9 landings are at sea on automated drone ships, the question of “public safety” seems moot. No uninformed member of the general public was near the drone ship when the booster toppled, and in fact, no SpaceX or contractor personnel were aboard the drone ship either. No one was — the drone ship is automated during landing operations.

Notably, Falcon 9 and Booster B1062 seemingly had a normal ascent, second-stage separation and preparation for its landing sequence last night. Again, that points to the uninformed general public never being in danger.

Whether the FAA agrees with that assessment remains to be seen. It is also worth noting that SpaceX has had 267 consecutive successful Falcon 9 booster landings before last night.

The last failed booster landing for the company was on February 16, 2021, when Booster B1059 did not land successfully aboard ASDS ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ after launching Starlink 19. The next launch of Falcon 9 came on March 4, 2021, sixteen days after the Starlink 19 mishap.

Whether that roughly two-week period is a guideline for last night’s mishap investigation timeline remains to be seen.

Schedule Effects

The most important launch that this investigation could affect is Polaris Dawn, which is currently on its launch mount at LC-39A and tentatively scheduled to launch as soon as Friday.

SpaceX has not officially announced the date for the next Polaris Dawn launch attempt, and hopefully the company will provide more clarity regarding its plans and obligations in the coming days.