Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. violated the terms of its federal license for a December launch of its Starship spacecraft, a flight that ended in a fireball, according to a report.
It was unclear which part of the test violated the license, Verge’s website said Friday in its article quoting anonymous sources. An accident investigated by the The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has focused on refusing to allow SpaceX to abide by what the regulator has authorized, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News, confirming the Verge’s report. The person, who is not allowed to discuss the matter, asked for anonymity.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment, which was made after normal office hours on Friday.
The intensified regulatory investigation played a role in delaying testing of the SpaceX’s Starship SN-9 prototype this week, reports the Verge. Musk expressed his frustration in a tweet on Thursday, to accuse the FAA of “a fundamentally broken regulatory structure”. The agency said Friday that it would evaluate “additional information from SpaceX” as the company wants to change its launch license.
The rocket company hosted the launch of the SN-9.
The Starship SN-8 flew on December 9 with a successful takeoff and a landing rock maneuver, which remained stable during the nearly seven-minute flight. But low pressure in a fuel tank caused the spacecraft to land too quickly, leading to a fireball at touch.
“While we recognize the importance of moving quickly to promote growth and innovation in the commercial space, the FAA will not jeopardize its responsibility to protect public safety,” the FAA said in response to inquiries about the delay of the SN-9 launch. “We will only approve the amendment once we are satisfied that SpaceX has taken the necessary steps to comply with the regulatory requirements.”
SpaceX’s stainless steel Starship is designed to be a versatile, fully reusable spacecraft capable of transporting 100 tons for deep space missions to the moon and Mars and also serves as a hypersonic, point-to-point vehicle to travel over time to reduce the whole earth.