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The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded Elon Musk’s Starship program after last week’s rocket explosion.
The FAA said it will ground the Starship until SpaceX completes an investigation and puts into place any corrective actions.
The regulator says it will review the findings before approving Starship's return to flight.
The SpaceX Starship was lost on Thursday after it blew up shortly after launching from South Texas. The debris rained down over the Caribbean as air traffic controllers scrambled to divert air traffic from the area.
Elon Musk released a statement that said the explosion was caused by an apparent fuel leak in the aft section of the ship. There were no reports of injuries from the falling debris. The booster section of the rocket was successfully captured back at the launch site.
The Starship program is a reusable launch system, and part of SpaceX 's plans to colonize Mars.
The FAA previously grounded the Starship program for six months in 2023 after a rocket explosion caused extensive environmental damage.
