Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast.
This is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads that
shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company and Neuralink.
I'm your host Will Walden. When Space XS massive Starship
rocket exploded over the Caribbean in January, scattering
debris across multiple islands, the FAA acted swiftly.
The agency temporarily grounded the program, launched an
investigation and signaled that it was ready to enforce
regulations meant to ensure public safety.
It was the latest in a series of regulatory measures that have
put the FA as Office of Commercial Space Transportation
on a collision course with Elon Musk.
He's the billionaire who's behind the world's most powerful
commercial rocket company, SpaceX.
But now with Musk holding an influential government position
under President Donald Trump's administration, the future of
the oversight is anything but certain.
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Now Elon Musk, now the head of the newly created Department of
Government Efficiency, has been vocal about his frustrations
with the FA as regulatory approach.
He's accused the agency of using lawfare against SpaceX and
threatened legal action over what he calls regulatory
overreach. Following the September 23rd or
September 2023 announcement that the FAA was proposing $633,000
in fines against SpaceX for safety violations, Musk took to
X to call for drastic reforms. He said the fundamental problem
is that humanity will forever be confined to Earth unless there
is a radical reform at the FAA now with Musk now with the helm
of a federal department focused on cutting costs and eliminating
regulatory barriers, current and former FA.
As employees fear that EST and office already struggling to
keep up with the surge in commercial space activity could
be in his crosshairs. Former FAA employee said people
are nervous, WHO spoke on a condition of anonymity now AS TS
role is crucial though it licenses commercial rocket
launches, assesses public safety risks, evaluates environmental
impacts and ensures compliance with Airsafe regulations.
Yet it operates with only about 160 people despite overseeing a
skyrocketing number of launches every single week.
Now. The numbers tell the story
though. In 20/19, AST licensed just 26
launches by 2023 or in 2019. Then in 2023, it jumped up to
157, most of them conducted by SpaceX.
It was an increase of exponential proportions.
And warning is that there's no sign of it slowing down if a
rocket goes off course and nobody's double checking it.
And so you have a major catastrophic event that's going
to result in a huge backlash. Musk, however, sees things a
little bit differently. SpaceX operates under what is
called rapid iterative development and engineering
philosophy that emphasizes moving fast, accepting failures,
and improving on those failures with each test.
This approach has led to dramatic advancements in rocket
technology, but it's also resulted in explosions, debris
incidents and concerns about public safety.
Last month's Starship explosion forced dozens of commercial
aircraft to divert their past to avoid falling wreckage from the
Starship. Debris landed in populated areas
of the Caribbean, damaging at least one car, and FAA
investigators are still determining what went wrong.
Now if that car was a person, this would be completely
different. Despite the risks, Musk brushed
it off, and he posted a video of the flaming debris field with
the caption. Success is uncertain, but
entertainment is guaranteed. He later dismissed the explosion
as barely a bump in the road and suggested it wouldn't delay
plans for the next launch. Despite the fact the FAA
approval is still pending, some experts are alarmed by the
situation. Jariba JA, an aerospace
engineering professor at the University of Texas, described
Musk's attitude as recklessness at a minimum.
JA also pointed out what he sees as serious conflict of interest.
He said that he now gets to provide government oversight
over the things that he is trying to get permission to do
is one of the most significant conflicts of interest I've seen
in my career, and it's inexplicable to me.
The White House has been largely silent on Doge's role in the
FAA. Officials have only reference
comments from Trump, who insisted that if Musk faced a
conflict of interest. We won't let him go near it.
Said Trump. And they said will Musk will
excuse himself from these contracts if needed.
But Musk isn't the only one advocating for less oversight of
commercial spaceflight. Some members of Congress argue
that FAA regulations are too restrictive and could slow
America's progress in space. At a hearing in last September,
Representative Bryant Babin, a Texas Republican and the
incoming chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology
Committee, warned that excessive regulation could unnecessarily
delay the return of astronauts to the moon for the Artemis
program. And Babin did not respond to
requests for an interview from us.
So there you have it. And the pressure on AST is
expected to intensify under Trump's new Transportation
secretary, Sean Duffy. During his confirmation hearing,
Senator Ted Cruz criticized the FA as enforcement actions
against SpaceX and asked Duffy whether he would commit to
curtailing bureaucratic overreach and accelerating
launch approvals. Duffy responded.
I commit to doing a review and working with you.
Since taking office, Duffy has already spoken with Musk about
potential changes to FAA oversight, a move that draw
criticism from Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, who
called it a conflict of interest.
Now, some lawmakers, including Representative Zoe Lofgren, the
top Democrat on the science committee, acknowledged the need
for regulatory streamlining but insist that safety must remain a
priority. There needs to be a traffic cop
here, Lofgren said, pointing to concerns over space debris,
noise pollution and risks to launchpad neighbors.
This can't just be the Wild West, right?
And to speed, AS despite ASTS crucial role, its budget remains
minimal. That's $42 million a year, less
than 1% of the FAA's total budget.
Now astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracks space
launches at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory,
argues that as the industry grows, AST will need more
resources, not fewer. Government will need to play a
role, and they're going to have to sort it out.
A 2023 government advisory committee recommended that AST
be removed from the FAA and restructured as an independent
agency within the Department of Transportation.
Supporters of the proposal argued that AST would get more
resources and attention if it operated separately.
Others believe that the FAA's traditional focus on commercial
aviation safety, where failures are not tolerated, is
fundamentally incapable with an industry where failures are
expected and even necessary for progress.
The tension between safety and innovation is at the core of the
debate. Though Government Accountability
Office report founded over a three-year period leading up to
2023, there are about a dozen mishaps in commercial Space
Flight industry terminology for catastrophic explosions and
major failures. None of these incidents resulted
in deaths or serious injury, though.
But they had other impacts. The first starlet Starship
launch in April 2023, for example, sent a massive cloud of
debris over South Texas, scattering chunks of concrete
and metal across an environmentally sensitive
migratory bird habitat. Local residents have voiced
concerns about the growing risks, but they've often been
ignored. Musk, however, has openly mocked
the concerns. When reports emerged the
Spacex's debris had stained bird eggs with soot, he responded
sarcastically. To make up for this heinous
crime over refrain from having omelette for a week.
SpaceX is already pushing AST to approve an aggressive lock
schedule. Company completed 4 Starship
launches in 2024 and aims for 25 more in 2025.
Now, whether the FAA, under pressure from Musk and the Trump
administration, will maintain its authority to regulate these
launches remains an open question.
For now, though, the AST and the oversight for the world's most
powerful commercial rocket company may rest in the hands of
the very man it was designed to regulate.
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