FAA proposes to fine SpaceX $633,000 over 2023 launch requirements

WASHINGTON :The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it proposing to fine SpaceX $633,000 for allegedly failing to follow license requirements and not getting approval for changes during two launches in 2023.
The FAA said SpaceX failed to get approval to revise its communications plan related to its license to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida including adding a new launch control room at Hangar X and removing the T-2 hour readiness poll from its procedures before a June 2023 launch. SpaceX used the unapproved launch control room for the PSN SATRIA mission and did not conduct the required poll, the FAA said.
The FAA also said SpaceX used an unapproved rocket propellant farm before a July 2023 mission after submitting a request to revise its explosive site plan related to its license to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX used the unapproved rocket propellant farm for the EchoStar XXIV/Jupiter mission, the FAA said.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“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. “Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences.”
SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the FAA after receiving the agency’s enforcement letters. The FAA is proposing $175,000 fines for both of the June violations and $283,000 for the July incident.
In February 2023, the FAA proposed a $175,000 civil penalty against SpaceX for failing to submit some safety data to the agency prior to an August 2022 launch of Starlink satellites.
In September 2023, the FAA ended an investigation into SpaceX’s April 2023 test launch of its giant Starship rocket, requiring the company to implement dozens of corrective measures.