In August last year, SpaceX launched 53 Starlink satellites from Florida without sending the necessary data to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US Department of Transportation. The FAA has proposed a fine of $175,000 to SpaceX for not sharing the data within seven days of the launch. The missing data is crucial to assessing the likelihood of a launch vehicle colliding with objects orbiting the Earth. SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the FAA’s official announcement.
The FAA has had conflicts with SpaceX over seemingly reckless launches, such as in 2021 when SpaceX requested an exemption from federal safety regulations to launch a prototype spacecraft, which the FAA denied. Despite this, SpaceX continued to launch, leading to an investigation and temporary suspension of operations at one of its launch sites. Ultimately, SpaceX fixed the issues identified by the FAA, but it’s unclear whether the FAA is considering penalizing the company.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has criticized the FAA publicly, alleging that delays in FAA inspections caused launch time delays. The United Launch Alliance CEO urged the FAA to enforce licensing regulations and procedures to all service providers, saying that if a company violates the FAA’s safety rules and procedures, the FAA should respond strongly with a series of deterrent penalties.
Now, it appears that the FAA is taking that advice, recommending civil penalties against SpaceX to ensure that all launches meet the FAA’s deadline for sharing analytical orbital data to prevent launch collision.
