FAA Authorizes SpaceX Falcon 9 for Hera Mission

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the Falcon 9 launch of the European Space Agency's Hera mission, clearing a regulatory hurdle a day before the scheduled liftoff. As SpaceNews reported, the approval applies only to Hera. The rest of SpaceX's Falcon 9 flights remain on hold while the FAA reviews a second-stage malfunction from late September.

Why the FAA Made an Exception

On Sept. 28, after a Falcon 9 carried NASA's Crew-9 astronauts toward the International Space Station, the rocket's second stage performed what SpaceX called an "off-nominal deorbit burn." According to Spaceflight Now, the stage came down in the ocean but outside its targeted area. The engine firing is meant to steer spent stages into a controlled reentry so any surviving debris falls in a cleared stretch of ocean. The FAA said no public injuries or property damage were reported, but it required an investigation.

The Hera mission is different. Its second stage will burn all of its propellant to send the spacecraft into deep space and will not return to Earth. In a statement quoted by CBS News, the FAA said "the absence of a second stage reentry for this mission adequately mitigates the primary risk to the public" if the Crew-9 problem were to happen again. The agency added that safety would drive the timeline for reviewing SpaceX's mishap report and deciding when Falcon 9 can return to regular operations.

What Hera Will Study

Hera is the European half of an international planetary defense collaboration with NASA. On Sept. 26, 2022, NASA's DART spacecraft deliberately crashed into Dimorphos, a small asteroid that orbits a larger one called Didymos. NASA later confirmed that the impact shortened Dimorphos's orbit by about 32 minutes, from 11 hours and 55 minutes to 11 hours and 23 minutes. It was the first time humans had measurably changed the motion of a celestial body.

Many questions remain, including whether DART left a crater or reshaped the asteroid entirely, and how much Dimorphos weighs. According to ESA's mission overview, Hera will conduct a close-up "crash site investigation" to answer those questions, turning DART's single test into a technique scientists understand well enough to repeat if an asteroid ever threatens Earth. Hera carries two CubeSats, Milani and Juventas. Juventas is designed to perform the first radar sounding of an asteroid's interior and to attempt a landing on Dimorphos.

The trip will take about two years. ESA plans a swing past Mars in March 2025, including a flyby of the Martian moon Deimos, before the spacecraft reaches the Didymos system in late 2026. The launch window runs from Oct. 7 to Oct. 27.

Weather and a Tense Regulatory Backdrop

With the FAA's approval secured, weather is the last big variable. CBS News reported that forecasters gave an 85% chance of clouds and showers that could force a delay of the 10:52 a.m. EDT launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Hurricane Milton is expected to cross Florida later in the week. "The last hurdle is the weather," ESA Hera project manager Ian Carnelli told reporters on Sunday.

The clearance also comes at a tense moment in SpaceX's relationship with its regulator. The Crew-9 anomaly led to the third grounding of the Falcon fleet in three months, after an upper-stage failure that destroyed 20 Starlink satellites on July 11 and a booster that crashed on landing on Aug. 28. In September, the FAA proposed about $633,000 in fines over alleged license violations during two 2023 Florida launches, the AP reported. The violations included using a new launch control room and a new rocket fuel facility without prior approval. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded on X that the company would sue the FAA "for regulatory overreach," according to SpaceNews. SpaceX has also been waiting on FAA authorization for the fifth test flight of its Starship rocket.

Another high-profile launch is next in line. NASA's Europa Clipper is set to fly on a Falcon Heavy, which uses the same upper stage as Falcon 9. CBS News reported that the FAA did not address that mission in its statement. The launch, previously planned for Thursday, is on hold until Hurricane Milton passes.

Update (March 13, 2025): Hera launched on Oct. 7, 2024. On March 12, 2025, it flew past Mars and imaged the moon Deimos from as close as about 1,000 km, ESA said. The spacecraft remains on course for the Didymos system.