Elon Musk's SpaceX has prepared its giant Starship rocket for its second test flight, but the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned that another mission cannot be attempted until the investigation into the failed first flight has been cleared.
Earlier this week, the company stacked the prototype upper section of its planned interplanetary space vehicle onto the 'Super Heavy' boosters at the company's Starbase site in Boca Chica, Texas.
The second flight is intended to reach orbit.
But April's first test flight saw the rocket explode above the Gulf of Mexico, with the company reported to have sent a self-destruct signal after the two stages did not separate as planned.
The launch also led to a six-mile plume of dust, with a shower of concrete and metal debris flung into sensitive natural habitat, and a 3.5-acre fire started on state park land near the launch site, leading to lawsuits being filed by environmental groups.
SpaceX's take-off-and-landing site is located within the Las Paolomas wildlife management area, a nesting site for Kemp's ridley sea turtles and birds such as the snowy plover, piping plover, and ocelot.
Environmental policies were violated by the FAA in allowing the launch to go ahead without an in-depth environmental review, the groups claim, with a lawsuit calling for the FAA to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact statement (EIS), which could potentially impede SpaceX's Starship operations in Texas for several years, including some NASA contracts.
Overnight, the Federal Aviation Administration said: “The SpaceX Starship mishap investigation remains open."
"The FAA will not authorize another Starship launch until SpaceX implements the corrective actions identified during the mishap investigation and demonstrates compliance with all the regulatory requirements of the license modification process,” the organisation said in response to a question from industry website SpaceNews.
In its application to gain its environmental permit for launches, SpaceX estimated debris would only be expected to fall within a 700-acre (less than 3km square) area surrounding the launch site, which was far exceeded in the actual Starship launch, with reports from Port Isabel 10km away of windows being shattered and showers of debris.