Billionaire Elon Musk criticized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for targeting SpaceX with outrageous fines while letting Boeing off the hook for serious safety infractions on X. Private spacecraft manufacturer, SpaceX, wrote a letter to the US Congress disputing the $6,33,009 civil penalties imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In the letter, SpaceX Vice President David Harris refuted the allegations by the FAA and accused the administration of misallocating resources to identify trivial problems instead of pertinent ones.

FAA imposed penalties on SpaceX for allegedly violating its license regulations and disregarding safety protocols during two of its launches in 2023. SpaceX denied these allegations in the letter to US Congress.

What are the allegations?

According to FAA, SpaceX conducted their operations under an unapproved communications plane during its launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. SpaceX submitted a request to revise its plan in May 2023, but allegedly proceeded the PSN SATRIA mission using the unapproved plan in June 2023.

The communications plan also proposed the removal of T-minus 2-hour (2 hours before launch) readiness poll from pre-launch procedures. Since the plan was unapproved, the FAA is imposing a penalty on SpaceX for failing to conduct the poll. The FAA is proposing US$350,000 in civil penalties (US$175,000 for each alleged violation).

FAA also alleges that SpaceX used an unapproved space farm for its EchoStar XXIV/Jupiter mission in July 2023. For this, FAA is proposing a US$ 2,83,009 Civil penalty.

“Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses. Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences”, said FAA Chief Counsel Marc Nichols.

SpaceX’s response

According to the letter, SpaceX claimed that the company had provided FAA with ample amount of notice period before conducting the launches which had been approved on June 22. SpaceX also claims that the changes made to the plan were under a “continuing accuracy update” to the FAA, and therefore did not require their approval. It also claimed that the T-2 hour launch procedure is not required in the regulations.

Regarding the space farm, SpaceX alleges that the FAA did not request them to halt procedures or revoke their license, despite regular updates showing adherence to safety regulations. “FAA is on console prior to launch operations and hence did not stop launch operations because of this matter, indicating no public hazard of public safety risk”, said the letter.

SpaceX shared the letter to US Congress on X with the caption, “For nearly two years, SpaceX has voiced its concerns with the FAA’s inability to keep pace with the commercial spaceflight industry. 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”.

“These distractions continue to directly threaten national priorities and undercut American industry’s ability to innovate”.

-SpaceX

Boeing Starliner’s misfunction

Elon Musk took to X to criticize the airspace regulatory body’s actions with reference to SpaceX’s letter to US Congress. He alleged that the FAA is misallocating its resources to attack private organizations like SpaceX over petty reasons, while letting Boeing get away with serious safety infractions.

He was referring to Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s delayed return from space. It was caused due to technical glitches in the Boeing Starliner capsule which took the duo to the International Space Station (ISS) on its test flight. The glitches caused NASA to call back the Starliner without the crew onboard.

“The @FAANews leadership spends their resources attacking @SpaceX for petty matters that have nothing to do with safety while neglecting real safety issues at Boeing“, claimed Musk in a post on X. “This is deeply wrong and puts human lives at risk”.

He further highlighted the FAA’s inability to impose penalties on Boeing despite NASA deeming their capsule unsafe for the astronauts. After Boeing’s failure, NASA itself turned to SpaceX to facilitate a safe return for the astronauts “out of necessity”. However, FAA continues to fine SpaceX over trivial matters. “Enough is Enough”, he said.