SpaceX dinged by FAA for failing to get mission changes approved
- by The Verge
- Sep 18, 2024
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Wes Davis
, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.
Sep 18, 2024, 1:43 PM UTC
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On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed a set of fines that total $633,009 over what it says were two instances of SpaceX launching missions with unapproved changes in violation of its license as well as skipping a required step for launch. In response, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk threatened to sue the agency on a claim of “regulatory overreach.”
The FAA says one set of fines totaling $350,000 is related to a June 18th, 2023, launch in which SpaceX used an “unapproved launch control room for the PSN SATRIA mission” and skipped a required “T-2 hour readiness poll.” The company had requested approval for the changes in May, the FAA says, but never got it.
Similarly, the company sought clearance for a new rocket propellant farm in July but didn’t wait for approval before launching the EchoStar Jupiter 3 communications satellite on July 28th, 2023, the agency alleges. The FAA proposes a $283,009 penalty for that.
From the FAA’s announcement:
Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses,” said FAA Chief Counsel Marc Nichols. “Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences.
Musk took to X with a threat to sue the FAA over what he calls “regulatory overreach.” SpaceX isn’t shy about suing the government, having filed a complaint against the National Labor Relations Board at the beginning of the year over labor action it had taken. It also sued the federal government in 2019 over a contract that it felt it should have received.
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