From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Mishaps in Commercial Space Transportation

Description: The U.S. commercial space transportation industry, which
provides launch and other services for government and private customers,
has grown rapidly in recent years. But not all launches go smoothly.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data show that 50 commercial space
launches from 2000 through mid-January 2023 resulted in “mishaps”--the
industry term for incidents such as catastrophic explosions and other
failures. GAO found that FAA has authorized operator-led investigations
for all mishaps where it had lead investigative authority. We recommend
that 1) FAA develop criteria for determining when the agency will
authorize a launch operator to lead a mishap investigation on the
agency’s behalf, and 2) FAA comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness
of its mishap investigation process.

Related GAO Works: GAO-24-105561. Commercial Space Transportation: FAA
Should Improve Its Mishap Investigation Process

Released: December 2023

[ GAO's Heather Krause, Director, Physical Infrastructure, speaking ]

[ Heather Krause: ]
  Commercial space transportation has seen an incredible increase in
activity, especially in recent years. So there's a lot of interest in
understanding how is FAA adapting and responding to those changes in
industry. We were specifically asked to look at FAA's oversight of the
commercial space mishap investigation process. Mishaps can range from a
catastrophic explosion of the vehicle to just the vehicle itself, not
being able to meet the mission.
  From 2000 to early 2023, there were 50 total mishaps. So that's
roughly 12% of all the launches that occurred over that time period.
Commercial space, it is rocket science. And so mishaps are to be
expected. You know, when we talked to FAA and others in the industry,
what they're doing is working to mitigate the consequences of that,
especially when it comes to protecting the uninvolved public.
  We made two recommendations to improve their process. First, to
develop criteria to determine when FAA should authorize operators to
lead investigations. And two, really comprehensively assessing its
mishap investigation process and the effectiveness of that process.
Because of the rapid growth in the industry and the evolution of the
technology, now is the time for FAA to really take stock of how well
their process for overseeing mishap investigations is working. 

 [ End ]

For more info, check out our report GAO-24-105561 at: GAO.gov