Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. violated the terms of its federal license for a December launch test of its spacecraft, a flight that ended in a fireball, according to a report.
It was not clear that part of the test violated the license, Verge said on Friday in its article, which cited anonymous sources. An accident investigation by The US Federal Aviation Administration has focused on SpaceX’s refusal to adhere to what the regulator has authorized, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News, confirming Verge’s report. The person, who was not allowed to discuss the matter, requested anonymity.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment made after normal business hours on Friday.
Accelerated regulatory scrutiny played a role in delaying a test of SpaceX’s Starship SN-9 prototype this week, Verge reported. Musk expressed his frustration in a tweet on Thursday, criticizing the FAA for “a fundamentally broken regulatory framework”. The agency said on Friday it would “evaluate additional information” from SpaceX as the company tries to modify its launch license.
The rocket company had been publicizing the launch of the SN-9.
The Starship SN-8 flew on December 9 with a successful climb and a flip landing maneuver, remaining stable during the nearly seven-minute flight. But the low pressure in a fuel tank caused the spacecraft to land very quickly, resulting in a fireball at the touchdown.
“While we recognize the importance of acting quickly to promote growth and innovation in the commercial space, the FAA will not compromise its responsibility to protect public security,” said the FAA in response to questions about the delay in launching the SN-9. “We will approve the modification only after we are satisfied that SpaceX has taken the necessary steps to comply with regulatory requirements.”
The SpaceX stainless steel spacecraft is designed to be a versatile and fully reusable spacecraft that can carry 100 metric tons for deep space missions to the Moon and Mars and also serve as a hypersonic point-to-point vehicle to reduce travel time by Earth.