If you spend enough time on social media, you can find someone venting about nearly anything. In particular, this applies to large, public-facing entities, whether they’re retail chains or government organizations. But it’s a lot less likely to see the CEO of a massive spaceflight company digging in their heels to critique one of the agencies responsible for overseeing their business.
The fact that the CEO in question is Elon Musk makes this a bit less surprising, as Musk isn’t exactly known for speaking diplomatically when on Twitter/X. But the current clash between the Musk-run SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the latest example of the tensions between Musk’s extreme candor and his role as a government contractor.
Earlier this week, Musk shared a post about the FAA, citing public safety concerns regarding the heat tiles on SpaceX’s Starship. “America is being smothered by ever larger mountains of irrational regulations from ever more new agencies that serve no purpose apart from the aggrandizement of bureaucrats,” Musk wrote. “Humanity, and life as we know it, are doomed to extinction without significant regulatory reform. We need to become a multiplanet civilization and a spacefaring species!”
As Stephen Clark reported at Ars Technica, this is one instance of a much larger verbal skirmish between SpaceX and the FAA. In the case of Starship, this includes the FAA raising concerns over the parts of Starship that will return to Earth after launch — and which could, if something goes wrong, land on a populated area. It’s not shocking that SpaceX would espouse a position of less regulation, but it’s also not shocking that the FAA would be concerned with worst-case scenarios, especially considering the historic size and scale of Starship.
“They’ve been around 20 years, and I think they need to operate at the highest level of safety,” FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said in comments made this week to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation. “That includes adopting [a Safety Management System] program, and it includes having a whistleblower program.”
Can SpaceX Pull Off Its Ambitious Mars Plans?
Elon Musk suggested the first mission could launch in 2026For his part, Musk sounds unconvinced. As Space.com’s Brett Tingley reports, Musk called for Whitaker to resign and has said that SpaceX plans to sue the agency. It’s a messy situation that, unfortunately, doesn’t seem likely to be resolved neatly any time soon.
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