By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it proposing to fine Elon Musk’s SpaceX $633,000 for allegedly failing to follow license requirements and not getting approval for changes during two launches in 2023.
The FAA said SpaceX failed to get approval to revise its communications plan related to its license to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida including adding a new launch control room at Hangar X and removing the T-2 hour readiness poll from its procedures before a June 2023 launch. SpaceX used the unapproved launch control room for the PSN SATRIA mission and did not conduct the required poll, the FAA said.
“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.”
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment but Musk on X suggested the FAA’s action was politically motivated and vowed to challenge it. “SpaceX will be filing suit against the FAA for regulatory overreach,” Musk said.
The FAA did not immediately comment on Musk’s remarks.
The FAA also said SpaceX used an unapproved rocket propellant farm before a July 2023 mission after submitting a request to revise its explosive site plan related to its license to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX used the unapproved rocket propellant farm for the EchoStar XXIV/Jupiter mission, the FAA said.
SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the FAA after receiving the agency’s enforcement letters. The FAA is proposing $175,000 fines for both of the June violations and $283,000 for the July incident.
In February 2023, the FAA proposed a $175,000 civil penalty against SpaceX for failing to submit some safety data to the agency prior to an August 2022 launch of Starlink satellites. The FAA said SpaceX paid the $175,000 fine in October.
In September 2023, the FAA ended an investigation into SpaceX’s April 2023 test launch of its giant Starship rocket, requiring the company to implement dozens of corrective measures.
Last week, the FAA said that SpaceX’s planned Starship Flight 5 launch had a new configuration and mission profile that triggered a more in-depth review and said a final license determination is not expected before late November.
On Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel said she wants to see more competition to SpaceX’s internet satellite constellation Starlink, which controls nearly two thirds of all active satellites and has launched about 7,000 satellites since 2018.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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