FAA Proposes $633,009 Civil Penalty Against SpaceX for Alleged Licensing Violations in 2023

TapTechNews September 18th news, on local time September 17th, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a statement, proposing to impose a civil penalty of $633,009 (TapTechNews note: currently about 4.491 million Chinese yuan) on SapceX, on the grounds that the company was suspected of failing to comply with relevant licensing requirements in two launch missions in 2023; SpaceX will have 30 days to respond later.

Safety is the top priority of all FAA's work, including the legal responsibility for safety supervision of companies holding commercial space transportation licenses, said FAA Chief Legal Counsel Marc Nichols, If a company does not comply with safety requirements, there will be consequences.

Here are the four illegal operations of SpaceX listed by the FAA:

In May 2023, SpaceX submitted a request to modify its communication plan related to the launch license at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, including adding a new launch control room in Hangar X and deleting the T-2-hour preparation polling from its program.

On June 18, 2023, SpaceX used an unapproved launch control room in the PSNSATRIA mission and did not conduct the required T-2-hour polling in advance.

In July 2023, SpaceX submitted an application to modify its explosion site plan related to the launch license at the Kennedy Space Center, and the proposed modification of SpaceX reflected a newly built rocket propellant storage station.

On July 28, 2023, SpaceX used this propellant storage station to execute the EchoStar XXIV/Jupiter mission without approval.