The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is coming after SpaceX for allegedly violating its regulations, but the company is not having it. In a letter to Congress, SpaceX fired back at the FAA, criticizing its inability to keep up with the growing space industry and suggesting that its decision was political.
SpaceX released a copy of the letter it sent to the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, in which it objected to the FAA’s proposed $633,009 in civil penalties for license violations. The letter accused the FAA of moving too slowly on approving minor license updates, and that it lacks the resources to be able to review licensing material in a timely manner.
“For nearly two years, SpaceX has voiced its concerns with the FAA’s inability to keep pace with the commercial spaceflight industry,” the company wrote on X. “It is clear that the Agency lacks the resources to timely review licensing materials, but also focuses its limited resources on areas unrelated to public safety.”
Earlier this week, the FAA announced that it was seeking a hefty amount in fines from Elon Musk’s private rocket company. The FAA accused SpaceX of failing to meet multiple licensing requirements while still proceeding with the launches.
In one Falcon 9 launch that took place on June 18, 2023, the FAA claims that SpaceX added a new launch control room without having it approved first and skipped the required readiness check two hours before launch. The second launch cited by the FAA took place on July 28, 2023, and it involved launching the EchoStar JUPITER 3 Broadband Communications Satellite on board a Falcon Heavy rocket. SpaceX used an unapproved fuel farm for the rocket’s propellant, according to the FAA.
“With respect to these matters, it is notable that in each instance, SpaceX provided AST [the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation] with sufficient notice of these relatively minor license updates, which had no bearing on public safety,” SpaceX wrote in its letter. “The fact that AST was unable to timely process these minor updates underscores systemic challenges at AST.”
In its letter, SpaceX goes a step further to claim that the FAA’s recent decision to issue a fine against the company was motivated by the agency’s need to deflect from its own failures. “It is notable that these violations and penalties were announced shortly after increased scrutiny on AST by Congress for its failure to reasonably and timely execute its regulatory obligations,” the letter reads.
The accusation is a direct reflection of Musk’s views on regulatory bodies such as the FAA. “I am highly confident that discovery will show improper, politically-motivated behavior by the FAA,” Musk wrote on X. The SpaceX founder and CEO prefers to follow a high-paced timeline for the company’s rocket launches, and is often left waiting on safety reviews and pending licenses from the FAA.
SpaceX has been gearing up for the fifth flight of its Starship rocket ever since its most recent launch in June. The FAA, however, recently revealed that it would not grant Starship a launch license until late November, pending safety, environmental, and other licensing requirements.
In a blog update, SpaceX claimed that Starship has been ready to fly since August. “Starships need to fly. The more we fly safely, the faster we learn; the faster we learn, the sooner we realize full and rapid rocket reuse,” the company wrote. “Unfortunately, we continue to be stuck in a reality where it takes longer to do the government paperwork to license a rocket launch than it does to design and build the actual hardware.”
“This should never happen and directly threatens America’s position as the leader in space,” SpaceX added in its blog post. The struggle between ambitious rocket billionaires and bureaucratic regulatory bodies continues, but the industry’s ongoing growth suggests change is inevitable soon.
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