FAA Proposes $175,000 Penalty on SpaceX for Not Complying With Safety Rules

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Oct. 5, 2022. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images)

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is seeking to impose a penalty on Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX following its failure to provide collision avoidance data before a launch last year.

A $175,000 civil penalty has been proposed against SpaceX because the company didn’t submit launch collision trajectory data to the agency prior to launching the Starlink Group 4-27 mission on Aug. 19, 2022.

“SpaceX was required to submit the data to the agency at least seven days prior to an attempted launch. Launch collision analysis trajectory data is used to assess the probability of the launch vehicle colliding with one of the thousands of tracked objects orbiting the Earth,” the FAA said in a statement on Feb. 17.

“SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the FAA after receiving the agency’s enforcement letter,” the agency stated. The mission had sent a batch of 53 Starlink internet satellites to space from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida using a Falcon 9 rocket.

Since SpaceX didn’t provide the launch collision analysis trajectory data seven days prior to the launch, it’s actually subject to an inflation-adjusted fine capped at $262,666 per federal statute.

Collision Data, Past Tensions Between FAA and SpaceX

The launch collision analysis trajectory data is supposed to show that the probability of a collision between a launched object with any tracked piece of orbital debris or satellite doesn’t exceed 1 in 100,000.

If the probability exceeds that limit, the launched object is required to maintain sufficient distance from such debris or satellites. For potential collisions with crewed vehicles, the probability is set at one in 1,000,000.

The proposed $175,000 penalty represents another point of tension between the FAA and SpaceX. The entities have previously clashed over several issues related to launches.

In 2021, SpaceX applied for a waiver from the FAA while launching a prototype spacecraft, seeking exemptions from certain safety regulations required for a launch.

The FAA had denied the request. However, SpaceX went ahead with the launch. It triggered an investigation that led to operations at one of the company’s launch sites getting temporarily suspended.

In 2020, the FAA identified SpaceX as having violated launch regulations after the company allowed the liftoff of a prototype of its Starship rocket, despite not getting approval related to the object’s potential blast radius.

Regulations and US Competitiveness

Safety regulations like collision avoidance data are just one aspect of space launches that the FAA regulates. The agency also oversees the environmental impact of such launches.

In June 2022, the FAA said that SpaceX would be required to comply with more than 75 environmental actions before it’s allowed to launch its Starship spacecraft program.

The actions require SpaceX to remove launch debris from sensitive habitats in the Texas State Parks and Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge, monitor wildlife and plants for launch effects, and manage noise and light pollution from the launch site.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, Brandon Weichert, who authored “Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower,” warned that even though the FAA’s decision was a “step in the right direction,” SpaceX was still subjected to “major bureaucratic hurdles” from the federal government.

“Needless to say, the amount of delays that the federal government has subjected SpaceX to, ostensibly out of concern for public safety, has been onerous. And with each delay, the longer it will take for SpaceX to overcome whatever technical issues exist for their experimental Starship program,” he said.

Weichert pointed out that America is in the “space race of our lives” with China and Russia, and that SpaceX is the “only American space entity” that is keeping the country in that race.

“The future of our country’s place as the dominant power on Earth is at stake. Whoever controls the strategic high ground of space dominates the earthly terrestrial domains. SpaceX is key to ensuring that America remains dominant there,” he said. “Failure to recognize this fact by Washington will hand the region over to Beijing.”