The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has allowed launch providers to conduct their own investigations in nearly every case of a launch accident since the turn of the century — a practice that needs more careful scrutiny, a federal watchdog said in a new report.
the report, Published Thursday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), takes a closer look at investigations into launch mishaps, the industry term for a launch ending in an explosion or other failure. Mishap investigations are a normal course of business, usually under the auspices of the FAA — but this report reveals that the practice is essentially entirely operator-led, with the FAA not having sufficient resources to conduct internal investigations.
The report found that of the 49 mishaps that occurred between 2000 and 2023 for which the FAA was the primary investigating authority, all were led by the launch operator. The only exception was the investigation into the fatal accident involving SpaceShipTwo in October 2014, for which the National Transportation Safety Board was the lead authority.
The FAA is allowing the launch company to conduct its own investigation for a number of reasons, officials told the Government Accountability Office. A thorough understanding of the vehicle’s design and underlying technology is essential when conducting an investigation into the root cause of a failure, and operators know their vehicle best. FAA officials also estimated that internal investigations would take 10 to 20 times longer than operator-led ones.
The US Government Accountability Office said the FAA should establish criteria for determining when an accident is investigated by its office or the launch provider, the report said. It also found that the FAA had not evaluated the effectiveness of its “operator-based” mishap investigation process.
“FAA officials told us that they make their decisions to allow operator-led investigations depending on the level of investigation required, which is largely based on the severity or consequences of the mishap and may also take into account the level of public interest.” He said. “However, in practice, the FAA permitted the relevant operator to lead the mishap investigation for all 49 mishaps for which the FAA had lead investigative authority.”
Even when investigations are conducted by the launching company, the FAA still exercises some degree of oversight and involvement in the process. But some stakeholders questioned whether divorcing companies “can be impartial or effective investigators of their mishaps.”
Launch service providers told the GAO that they take steps to maintain the independence of their internal investigations, and others said that market incentives and insurance requirements can also create positive incentives for a rigorous and credible investigative process.
Regardless, the GAO found that the FAA did not maintain standards for evaluating the effectiveness of operator-led investigations, and did not have formal channels for operators to share their findings with the broader industry.
“Without a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the operator-led accident investigation process, the FAA cannot assure that its safety oversight best achieves the agency’s objectives in an area of critical importance,” the GAO said.