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.
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.
I’m not sure this is a huge deal, but I think SpaceX’s “move fast and break things” mentality might have come to bite them in the ass again…
How so? You did not provide context for the fine (Ie. How many % of the price to the customer the fine is and how many % of profit it is.)
I have at least a little sympathy for SpaceX’s position that the regulations are unfit for purpose if they need a modification to their licence to use a different fuel tank, that seems totally immaterial to the flight
Fuel Tanks are rocket science. It makes sense that regulations are strict.
The underlying issue is probably ongoing understaffing of launch license providers.
Fair point, that does seem a bit odd…
If the punishment is a fine, they’ll just incorporate that into the price of doing business. Not a great look.
I think their rockets are cool. But if they can violate a launch license without getting grounded, what’s the point of launch licenses?