The FAA said SpaceX did not follow safety-related license agreements during two launches last year.
In June 2023, the FAA said the aerospace company used a launch control room without approval during a mission to launch Indonesian satellites and did not do a readiness poll two hours prior to launch. For these two alleged penalties, the FAA proposed $175,000 for each violation.
A month later, the agency said SpaceX used unapproved rocket propellant when launching the geostationary satellite Echo-Star 24 into orbit. For the unapproved propellant, the FAA proposed a civil penalty fee totaling $283,009.
The FAA said in a news release that SpaceX has thirty days to respond after receiving the enforcement letters. The penalties are $633,009 for allegedly going against the FAA license agreements.
“Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses,” said FAA Chief Counsel Marc Nichols in the administration's release. “Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences.”
SpaceX responded to the allegations and sent a letter to the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and the ranking members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
In response to Nichols’ comment on the allegations, SpaceX said “it is SpaceX’s understanding that it is highly irregular, and perhaps unprecedented, for a Chief Counsel to be quoted on an enforcement matter. SpaceX forcefully rejects the FAA’s assertion that it violated any regulations.”
The letter also contained a response to each allegation and proposed penalty from the FAA. SpaceX said the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) that oversees the FAA has not been operating timely in regards to reviewing licensing materials and “has been unsuccessful in modernizing and streamlining its regulations. “
SpaceX said it is “absolutely committed to safety in all operations. With respect to these matters, it is notable that in each instance, SpaceX provided AST with sufficient notice of these relatively minor license updates, which had no bearing on public safety. The fact that AST was unable to timely process these minor updates underscores systemic challenges at AST.”
