PARIS — The Federal Aviation Administration announced its intent to fine SpaceX more than $633,000 for violating its launch licenses on two occasions in 2023, a decision SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he will fight in court.
The FAA announced Sept. 17 that it notified SpaceX of $633,009 in proposed fines for violating terms of its launch licenses during the June 2023 Falcon 9 launch of the Satria-1, or PSN Satria, broadband satellite and the July 2023 Falcon Heavy launch of Jupiter-3, or EchoStar-24, broadband satellite. Both launches were successful.
For the Satria-1 launch, the FAA said in its enforcement notice to the company that SpaceX had requested in May 2023 changes to its communications plan to allow the use of a new launch control center at the company’s “Hangar X” facility at the Kennedy Space Center and to skip a poll of launch controllers at two hours before liftoff.
The FAA notified SpaceX shortly before the scheduled launch that it would not be able to approve those changes and modify the license in time, although the enforcement notice did not state why. SpaceX went ahead and used the Hangar X control center and skipped the “T-2 hours” poll for the launch.
The agency concluded that violated two conditions of its launch license, which allowed for civil penalties of up to $283,009 each. The FAA said it planned to fine SpaceX a combined $350,000 for that launch.
A month later, SpaceX conducted the Falcon Heavy launch of Jupiter-3, but nine days before the launch the company requested a modification to its launch license to allow it to use a new tank farm for RP-1 fuel at KSC’s Launch Complex 39A, according to a separate enforcement notice.
The FAA notified SpaceX two days before the scheduled launch that the agency would not be able to modify the license in time, but SpaceX nonetheless used the new tank farm for the launch. The agency said it proposed to fine SpaceX the maximum $283,009 for that violation.
“Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses,” Marc Nichols, chief counsel at the FAA, said in a statement. “Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences.”
For both incidents, SpaceX has 30 days to respond, with the option of participating in an “informal conference” with agency attorneys and submitting information to explain what happened.
Musk, though, suggested SpaceX would take the FAA to court rather than use those administrative procedures. “SpaceX will be filing suit against the FAA for regulatory overreach,” he posted on X, the social media platform he also owns.
Musk claimed in other posts the fines were “lawfare” by the FAA against SpaceX. “I am highly confident that discovery will show improper, politically-motivated behavior by the FAA,” he argued, but provided no evidence to support his claim.
In another post, Musk appeared confused by the FAA’s authority. “Amazingly, no Starliner fines for Boeing!” he wrote. “The FAA space division is harassing SpaceX about nonsense that doesn’t affect safety while giving a free pass to Boeing even after NASA concluded that their spacecraft was not safe enough to bring back the astronauts.”
For commercial crew missions like Starliner’s Crew Flight Test mission, crew safety is the responsibility of NASA, not the FAA. “The FAA partners with NASA during these missions and is responsible for public safety through its commercial space licensing process while NASA is responsible for crew safety,” the FAA notes.
A “learning period” also limits the FAA’s ability to enact safety regulations for spaceflight participants. That period, established in late 2004, has been extended several times and currently runs through the end of 2024. The FAA does have limited authority to regulate crew safety to ensure they can operate the vehicle and not harm the public.
The latest proposed fines were not the first FAA has levied against SpaceX. In February 2023, the FAA issued a similar notice to SpaceX about violating the terms of its launch license for a Falcon 9 Starlink launch six months earlier. In that case, SpaceX did not submit launch collision analysis trajectory data at least seven days before the launch as required by terms of the license. The FAA proposed a $175,000 fine.
SpaceX is also facing fines from another agency linked to Starship launch activities at its Starbase cite in Boca Chica, Texas. The Environmental Protection Agency announced Sept. 10 a $148,378 fine against SpaceX for violating terms of the Clean Water Act. The fine covers discharges of wastewater from a launch deluge system on the pad without the appropriate permit, as well as a separate, earlier incident where the company spilled liquid oxygen into protected wetlands at the site.
The EPA noted the proposed fine was the result of “settlement communications” with SpaceX. That settlement is open to public comment through Oct. 21.