The FAA denied SpaceX a security waiver. Your Starship SN8 rocket launched anyway

On December 9, 2020, SpaceX sent one of its Starship Mars rocket prototypes, dubbed SN8, on a high-altitude test flight for the first time. The successful launch and the flight ended with a dramatic and explosive forced landing, which Elon Musk had warned in advance could be the result.

On Tuesday, we learned that the entire scene challenged the Federal Aviation Administration, the US regulatory agency that oversees much of the commercial space activity and licenses SpaceX starship prototypes to operate in American airspace.

“Prior to the launch of the Starship SN8 test in December 2020, SpaceX sought an exemption to exceed the maximum public risk permitted by federal security regulations,” says a statement by an FAA spokesman. “After the FAA denied the request, SpaceX proceeded with the flight. As a result of this non-compliance, the FAA demanded that SpaceX conduct an investigation of the incident. All tests that could affect public safety in Boca Chica, Texas, are launched site was suspended until the investigation was completed and the FAA approved the company’s corrective actions to protect public safety. “

This revelation came the same morning that the FAA announced that it had finally given the go-ahead for SN8’s successor, SN9, to make its own high-altitude test flight from the company’s development facilities in Boca Chica, Texas.

SN9 was launched and flew on Tuesday afternoon and then suffered an explosive forced landing very similar to the final destination of the SN8. On Tuesday night, the FAA said it would open and oversee an investigation into the SN9 “landing accident”.

The FAA subsequently provided more details about the SN8 launch in December, explaining that “the company proceeded with the launch without demonstrating that the public risk of explosion overpressure in the distant field was within regulatory criteria.”

Basically, the FAA is saying that SpaceX has not demonstrated that the risk to the public of a potentially explosive explosion wave was within legal limits, but it went ahead and launched the SN8 anyway.

“The FAA demanded that SpaceX conduct an investigation of the incident, including a comprehensive review of the company’s safety culture, operational decision making and process discipline,” said an FAA spokesman in an e-mailed statement. “The FAA-approved corrective actions implemented by SpaceX have increased public safety. These actions have been incorporated into today’s SN9 launch. We anticipate taking no further enforcement action on the SN8 issue.”

Therefore, it appears that SpaceX launched a rocket prototype without all the proper regulatory approvals, and the only consequence was to conduct an internal review and have the launch of its next prototype delayed by a few days.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The launch of SN9 has been delayed repeatedly in January. Last week, it became clear that FAA approval was the main obstacle, prompting Elon Musk to publicly criticize the agency on Twitter.

However, the FAA said on Friday that it is working with SpaceX to approve a modified license for the launch of SN9.

“Corrective actions arising from the SN8 incident are incorporated into the SN9 launch license,” said the FAA.

“I am trying to understand this now and I will probably have more to say about it, but I am in complete shock to learn that a licensee has violated a launch license and there seems to be no repercussions,” former FAA official Jared Zambrano-Stout wrote on Twitter. “If a licensee violates the terms of his release license, he knows that an uninvolved member of the public may have been injured or killed. This is no exaggeration. They have taken a calculated risk with their life and property.”

An FAA spokesman said the agency is unlikely to comment further on the incident.

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