NATIONWIDE — The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Wednesday that it is grounding SpaceX’s Starship after its booster malfunctioned during its 12th test launch.

On Friday evening, May 22, SpaceX conducted its 12th flight test of its Starship and Super Heavy booster. (When they are stacked together, they are jointly called Starship.)

Minutes after takeoff from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, the Super Heavy booster separated from the uncrewed Starship.

It was supposed to fire off its engines, but they did not relight, and it crashed into the Gulf, where originally, it was supposed to have a water landing.

“Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster performed a directional flip maneuver and attempted its boostback burn. It was unable to light all planned engines and performed a partial boostback burn that ended early. Super Heavy attempted to reignite its engines for the landing burn before experiencing a hard splashdown in the Gulf of America,” SpaceX explained.

There were no reports of people being injured or damage to public property.

The FAA stated that it is requiring SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation.

“The FAA will oversee the SpaceX-led investigation, be involved in every step of the process, and approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions,” the agency stated.

Starship will be allowed to fly again once the FAA concludes a complete review of the incident.

This is not the first time the FAA grounded Starship. Last year, Starship was grounded after the upper stage lost communications and, as SpaceX stated, a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” happened.

During Starship’s first launch attempt in April 2023, it exploded and the FAA issued a string of conditions before the Texas-based company could try again, which included 63 corrective actions.