In a remarkably frank discussion this week, several senior SpaceX officials spoke with Ars Technica on background about how working with the Federal Aviation Administration has slowed down the company\u2019s progress not just on development of the Starship program, but on innovations with the Falcon 9 and Dragon programs as well.<\/p>\n
The SpaceX officials said they want to be clear that the FAA is doing a reasonably good job with the resources it has, and that everyone supports the mission of safe spaceflight. However, they said, the FAA needs significantly more people working in its licensing department and should be encouraged to prioritize missions of national importance.<\/p>\n
In recent months, according to SpaceX, its programs have had to compete with one another for reviews at the FAA. This has significantly slowed down the Starship program and put development of a Human Landing System for NASA\u2019s Artemis program at risk. Inefficient regulation, the officials said, is decreasing American competitiveness as space programs in China and elsewhere around the world rise.<\/p>\n
The discussion with Ars was convened by SpaceX in advance of a hearing on Wednesday before the US Subcommittee on Space and Science, at which William Gerstenmaier, vice president of Build and Flight Reliability at SpaceX, will be one of the people testifying. SpaceX hopes that Congress will provide guidance to the FAA on how to operate more efficiently.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe the committee can give them the big picture goals of what they want to accomplish for the US, and then maybe the FAA can be a little more innovative in how they interpret some of the rules and regulations,\u201d a SpaceX official said. \u201cTheir mission is to enable safe spaceflight. We cannot give up on the safety side, but could there be a little bit more emphasis on the enable side?\u201d<\/p>\n
,<\/p>\n
SpaceX is on pace to launch about 90 rockets this year, primarily Falcon 9 boosters from Florida. Next year, the company aims to increase that rate by about 50 percent. That is on top of new entrants such as United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan rocket, Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn, and other smaller rockets coming online. Then there is the increased flight rate by Virgin Galactic, the return to flight by Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard suborbital tourism rocket, and the potential for high-altitude balloon flights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see a trainwreck coming,\u201d said one of the SpaceX officials, citing all of this work that the FAA needs to perform.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext year could be a pretty dynamic time with lots of providers in spaceflight,\u201d another SpaceX official said. \u201cOur concern is even today Falcon and Dragon are sometimes competing for FAA resources with Starship, and the FAA can\u2019t handle those three activities together. So let alone what\u2019s coming next year, or maybe even later this year, we just don\u2019t think the FAA is staffed ready to support that.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the hearing on Wednesday, Gerstenmaier will recommend that the FAA double the staff in the licensing division of its Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which is known as AST. In addition, the FAA should be given \u201caccelerated hiring authority\u201d to draw from the best pool of candidates.<\/p>\n
The company also believes that license applicants should be able to opt-in to help fund independent third-party technical support to assist the FAA surge in the near term while the agency goes through the hiring process.<\/p>\n
The SpaceX officials cited several recent examples where it has had to defer work or modify its plans due to a backlog of work at the FAA. For example, the company\u2019s Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base sometimes fly over Jalama Beach, which is due south of the spaceport in California. SpaceX has been performing calculations, based on flight path and breakup analysis, to determine whether the beach needs to be closed. But because this work would compete directly with the FAA\u2019s Starship analysis, it has put the Jalama Beach review on hold and attempted to find nighttime launch windows when the beach would be empty.<\/p>\n
,<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people assume because Falcon flies every four days on average that that licensing process is kind of a well-oiled machine,\u201d one SpaceX official said. \u201cCertainly AST has made it work, and we have made it work, but I can assure you that it is very challenging. It\u2019s very cumbersome. In many cases, we have deferred work that is associated with those programs because we know if we put those documents in front of FAA it is going to redirect their attention away from our Starship program, and vice versa. There is a very real problem here, with resourcing, where our programs are competing with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
In terms of efficiency, SpaceX also said the FAA should lean on NASA, the US Space Force, and other federal agencies for support with the regulatory burden it faces.<\/p>\n
For example, when SpaceX sought to move its tank farm at Launch Complex 39A in Florida, it submitted paperwork and received approval from both the US Space Force and NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center. The company was not seeking to move the fueling operations outside the fence line, but rather just to reposition them inside.<\/p>\n
However, it also had to get approval from the FAA, and this, again, diverted resources away from reviewing Starship activity. Was this the best use of FAA resources when the Space Force and NASA had already signed off on the plans?<\/p>\n
SpaceX, and its founder Elon Musk, have pushed the US government to be more accommodating in the past. For example, about five years ago, the company provided extensive data to the US Air Force to convince it to accept an automated flight termination system\u2014in essence, the rocket\u2019s onboard computer would sense when there is a problem and self-destruct, rather than relying on a military officer at the launch range. The system has now been widely adopted and will soon become mandatory for US rockets.<\/p>\n
,<\/p>\n
A SpaceX official said they would like to see the FAA, similarly, lean into the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe range has an operational bent, and they\u2019ve been very supportive about being able to support our launch rate,\u201d one of the SpaceX officials said. \u201cThey\u2019ve gotten pretty creative with electronic processes, we send them electronic data and they send us electronic responses back. They\u2019ve stepped up and figured out a way that they\u2019re pretty flexible with us. What we\u2019d like to do is establish that same kind of positive relationship with the FAA. It\u2019s not saying that the relationship is negative, it\u2019s just not as efficient as it could be.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his testimony, Gerstenmaier will urge Congress to have the FAA prioritize programs of national interest, which includes development activities for Starship, which NASA is counting on to land humans on the Moon later this decade. At present, all licensing activities are treated the same, with no accelerated review for activities such as the Artemis Program.<\/p>\n
The SpaceX officials said they are losing time due to the review processes for Starship. The rocket for the vehicle\u2019s second flight has been ready to go for a little while now, and it likely will be waiting for two more weeks at least to complete regulatory review. The company is concerned that similarly lengthy reviews will delay the myriad future test flights needed to demonstrate Starship\u2019s viability, refueling capability, and ability to safely land on the Moon. While the Artemis III mission to land on the Moon is not being delayed day-for-day as a result, the regulatory issues are having an impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cLicensing at this point for Starship is a critical path item for the Artemis program, and for our execution,\u201d one of the SpaceX officials said. \u201cCertainly looking forward into next year, we really need to operate that program at a higher cadence of flights. Six to eight month turns, that\u2019s not great for the program.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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