SpaceX founder Elon Musk has accused the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of harassing the company whilst being too lenient on competitor Boeing. The FAA recently proposed a $633,000 fine against SpaceX for reported breaches during two launches in 2023.

Elon Musk blasts FAA for regulatory overreach

Musk pointed to the troubles experienced by Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which launched into space in June but was unable to return to Earth with its crew, prompting NASA to choose SpaceX’s Crew Dragon vehicle to bring home two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS).

A SpaceX rocket.

Photo: SpaceX

Responding to a post on X concerning the FAA’s recent proposal to fine SpaceX for the alleged license breaches last year, Musk said,

“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. There need to be resignations from the FAA leadership.”

Musk added that “instead of fining Boeing for putting astronauts at risk, the FAA is fining SpaceX for trivia.” This is the latest spat between the two just a week after SpaceX criticized the regulator for its restrictive commercial launch license regulations. The company also has the backing of Congress in this respect,

FAA fines, SpaceX responds

Earlier this week, the FAA proposed fining SpaceX $633,000 for failing to obtain necessary approvals and using an unapproved rocket propellant farm for two launches in June and July of last year. The FAA said that SpaceX built a new launch control room at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida without approval, and also failed to conduct a required T-2 hour readiness poll during the PSN SATRIA mission on June 18th, 2023, facing a fine of $175,000 for each violation.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch.

Photo: SpaceX

Then, the company is said to have used an unapproved rocket propellant (RP-1) farm for the July 28th, 2023, EchoStar XXIV/Jupiter mission, for which it faces a $283,009 fine.

SpaceX has “forcefully rejected” each violation in a letter to Congress, criticizing the agency’s “inability to keep pace with the commercial spaceflight industry” and delivering detailed refutations of each charge. The company said it provided the agency’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) with sufficient notice of each change and cited the AST’s inability to “timely process these minor changes.”

As for the T-2 Hour Polling, SpaceX said there is no requirement in the regulations to conduct such a poll, while it said the new RP-1 farm was approved for its Crew-7 launch and has been “safely used repeatedly ever since.”

The FAA previously issued SpaceX a $175,000 fine after it neglected to submit safety data before a Starlink satellite launch in August 2022. The company is also facing legal issues with its water deluge system at its Starbase facility in South Texas, which authorities claim is releasing pollutants into the local environment.

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