Elon Musk’s impatience has led to the US Federal Aviation Administration proposing $633,009 in civil penalties against his SpaceX operation for allegedly violating its launch licenses last year.
The proposed penalties are for two incidents a couple of months apart that, from what the FAA’s press release suggests, make it look like Musk just didn’t want to wait for FAA approval to use new launch facilities, so SpaceX used them without the okay to do so.
In one instance, the June launch of an Indonesian communications satellite was handled from a launch control room at Hangar X, which SpaceX had requested FAA approval for only a month earlier. However, the FAA had not granted approval by the June 18 launch date.
Additionally, SpaceX informed the FAA it intended to skip the mandatory T-minus 2-hour readiness poll in its launch preparations and proceeded without conducting it, despite this being an FAA requirement. These two violations together resulted in a $350,000 penalty, according to the agency.
The other incident, involving the July launch of the EchoStar XXIV satellite, saw SpaceX employ a similar apply-but-don’t-wait tactic. This time, the issue was a newly constructed rocket propellant farm at Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX had submitted a request to revise its explosive site plan in July but went ahead and used the unapproved propellant farm for the EchoStar XXIV launch on July 28. For this violation, the administration is proposing a $283,009 fine.
“Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses,” FAA Chief Counsel Marc Nichols said of the proposed fines. “Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences.”
Musk and the FAA regularly do battle with regards to SpaceX’s operations. Starship, Musk’s troubled super spacecraft, has been grounded for months, earning the billionaire’s ire, and the firm’s Falcon 9 workhorse has been grounded several times this year, both in relation to Starship bugbears and due to its own failures.
As a private company, it’s not clear how much money SpaceX actually makes, though recent estimates have put the rocket maker’s 2023 profits at around $55 million from $1.5 billion in revenue. Whether SpaceX will even bother to appeal so small a penalty is unclear.
We’ve reached out to the FAA and SpaceX for comment, but haven’t heard back. ®
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