A civil penalty of $175,000 was proposed on Friday by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) against SpaceX as it failed to submit some safety data to the agency before an August 2022 launch of Starlink satellites.
SpaceX was required to submit the information, seven days before the launch directly to the agency, containing launch collision analysis trajectory data. The probability of the launch vehicle and one of the thousands of tracked objects orbiting the Earth colliding with each other is assessed using this data. SpaceX has 30 days deadline to respond to the FAA after the notice.
SpaceX did not immediately respond when requested to comment.
The proposed penalty comes as the latest bout of tension between SpaceX and FAA as Elon Musk’s company’s fast-pace launch business tests U.S. launch and rocket re-entry regulations.
SpaceX was found in violation of launch regulations in 2020 when it allowed a Starship rocket’s prototype to lift off without securing approval of key data involving the vehicle’s potential blast radius.
In 2021, the FAA revised SpaceX commercial launch requirements to mandate that an FAA safety inspector be present for every flight at its Boca Chica launch facility after the FAA said the company violated license requirements for a Starship launch.
source: reuters.com
