Elon Musk's SpaceX violated its launch license in explosive Starship test
- by Emilio Sims
- in Money
- — Feb 1, 2021
With SpaceX now targeting Monday, Feb. 1, for its next launch opportunity for SN9 test article, the Boca Chica workforce wasted no time in preparing the site for the test which will follow SN9.
The FAA has stayed quiet while Musk airs his frustrations online, but the division told DailyMail.com: 'We will continue working with SpaceX to resolve outstanding safety issues before we approve the next test flight'. There has been no exact report or data talking about what SpaceX exactly did to violate the FAA terms, but it might be the explosion that took place. From now on, SpaceX's launch license violation is going to make it very hard for the company to make timely launches.
The FAA may have such concerns after the SN8 exploded on the launch pad in December. The FAA was also not very happy because of the simple fact that Elon was celebrating the explosion of the SN8 as a victory on Twitter. The company had earmarked it for a Thursday launch, but the test didn't proceed as planned.
In anticipation of another high-altitude test flight, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted out this photo on January 29, 2021, reading, "Starship SN9 & SN10".
In the leadup to a freakish last-minute abort of what may or may not have been Starship SN9's first real launch attempt, Musk had some strong words for the FAA's space division, deeming its regulatory structure "fundamentally broken" and a regime under which "humanity will never get to Mars". The space entrepreneur uncharitably described it as a system created to handle "a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities". "Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars", he tweeted. The FAA said it would evaluate additional information provided by SpaceX as part of its application to modify its launch license.
"While we recognize the importance of moving quickly to foster growth and innovation in commercial space, the FAA will not compromise its responsibility to protect public safety", the FAA said in response to inquiries about the delay of the SN-9 launch. And it's not personal; it's just due to the old regulatory laws that are still in effect today.
The US government had announced new streamlined launch licensing regulations past year, but they haven't gone into effect yet. These laws are very important to keep pace with the growing speed at which SpaceX and other similar companies are progressing. Starship and SpaceX will perform manned flights to Mars and the Moon.
The newly uncovered violation helps to explain some of the recent tensions bubbling up between Musk and the FAA.
