SpaceX Explosion Report: Investigation Ongoing, FAA Not Ready To Approve First Flight Scheduled For January

SpaceX is reportedly a little too ambitious for the Federal Aviation Administration when it comes to its next flight. Billionaire Elon Musk’s company announced Wednesday that it plans to return to space in January, after last week saying December, but the FAA has yet to grant SpaceX the required license, Wired reported Wednesday.

“They have not completed their investigation and therefore they do not have an [FAA launch] license,” the FAA spokesperson told Wired. The official added that the FAA “needs inspectors in place, we have to have air traffic control aware, we have to review payload,” while also stressing the granting of a launch license “could take a little while.”

SpaceX still must convince the government agency it has a plan to fix the problem that caused a massive explosion during fueling of a Falcon 9 rocket on Sept. 1 and must wrap up its inquiry. On Wednesday, SpaceX posted an update to its official site saying it is “finalizing the investigation into our September 1 anomaly and are working to complete the final steps necessary to safely and reliably return to flight, now in early January with the launch of Iridium-1."

Musk said last month his company believes the accident was caused by super-cooled oxygen reaching to carbon fiber in the rocket’s fuel tank.

Should the flight take place in January, the plan is to carry 10 Iridium Communications new NEXT global satellite constellation systems into low-earth orbit as part of their $492 million contract signed in 2010. The launch is expected to take place at Vandenburg Air Force Base, located north of Los Angeles.

Last week, Iridium announced the launch would be on Dec. 16 and that it was “excited,” a statement that displayed confidence in SpaceX after the Sept. 1 explosion at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida destroyed Space Communication Ltd.’s $200 million satellite.