Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 gets FAA nod to resume flights while probe underway

The SpaceX (SPACE) Falcon 9 vehicle may return to flight operations while the overall investigation of the anomaly during a recent Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral remains open, said the Federal Aviation Administration.

SpaceX (SPACE) made the return to flight request on Thursday, with the federal agency granting the request on Friday. The FAA added that flights of the company’s most prolific rocket may resume “provided all other license requirements are met.”

In a post on X today, the Elon Musk-led company said that the Falcon 9 had delivered 42 more Starlink satellites into orbit since the FAA’s decision, in back-to-back launches from Florida and California.

On Wednesday, the FAA grounded the Falcon 9 after a failed attempt to land back on Earth during a routine Starlink mission, making it the company’s second grounding this year.

However, groundings of the workhorse rocket are rare, which has flown hundreds of times without issue. Before the mishap, the Falcon 9 successfully launched a batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit.

The Falcon 9 is due to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on a Crew Dragon spacecraft in September, a mission that plans to bring back the two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station after riding the troubled Boeing’s (BA) Starliner spacecraft.

SpaceX (SPACE) is also set to launch Polaris Dawn, a mission that will carry four private astronauts, including billionaire Jared Isaacman, aiming to carry out the first private spacewalk.