FAA grounds SpaceX's Starship V3 megarocket after Flight 12 'mishap'

Just five days after its debut flight, SpaceX's Starship V3 megarocket has been grounded. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) just declared the May 22 Starship V3 launch a mishap and is requiring an investigation before the huge vehicle can take to the skies again. "A return to flight of the Starship-Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," FAA officials wrote in an update today (May 27). Starship consists of two elements, both of which are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable — a first-stage booster called Super Heavy and an upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship, or Ship for short. SpaceX believes that Starship — the biggest and most powerful launcher ever built — will revolutionize spaceflight, making Mars settlement and other ambitious exploration feats economically feasible. The new, 408-foot-tall (124.4 meters) V3 ("Version 3") variant is a key part of that vision. It's the first Starship iteration capable of deep-space flight, according to SpaceX, and will carry astronauts to the lunar surface on NASA's Artemis 4 mission in late 2028, if all goes to plan. So last week's suborbital test flight — the 12th overall for the Starship program — was a very big deal for the company. It went well in most respects. …