Nuked Spacex’s first high-altitude test flight violated the terms of its federal Aviation Administration test license. Both the landing explosion and license violation prompted a formal investigation by the FAA.
The launch of the rocket at SpaceX’s Boca chica, Texas, was hailed as a success. Musk tweeted moments after the rocket exploded on its landing.
It was unclear what part of the test flight violated the FAA license. Spacex refused to stick to the terms of what the FAA authorized.
The FAA will continue to work with SpaceX to evaluate additional information provided by the company as part of its application to modify its launch license. Spacex has taken the necessary steps to comply with regulations.
The 16-story rocket was loaded with fuel and ready to fly. But at the time, FAA officials were still going through their license review process for the test because of several changes.
The FAA space division has a’fundamentally broken regulatory structure’.’their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities,’ he tweeted.
The launch licensing regulations have yet to go into effect. Musk and others in the space industry have bemoaned the age-old us regulatory framework for launch licensing as innovation and competition in space skyrockets.
Musk’s Tweet was the latest embodiment of the billionaire’s disgruntled attitude toward regulators. He called out the FAA to his 44 million followers.
Spacex, founded by Musk in 2002, has sued the Air Force twice, once successfully in 2014 for the right to compete for Pentagon launches. In 2018, Musk was fined $ 20 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly misleading Tesla investors via Twitter.
