Hi everybody and welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast, where we
discuss all things Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla, and the future of
tech. I'm your host, William Walden.
In today's episode, we're zooming in on a burning issue,
the tension between SpaceX and the US government, especially
the FAA. SpaceX has had an explosive
year, launching rockets at a staggering rate and turning the
space industry on its head. However, the government seems to
be playing catch up, struggling to issue licenses and regulate
this game changing activity. Is this regulatory lag hampering
Spacex's ambition and by extension, the future of
American space exploration? Now let's kick things off by
talking about Spacex's flight rates.
It's been launching rockets more than 70 times this year, about
once every four days, which is shaking the foundations of the
Space Flight industry. SpaceX is clearly operating at
warp speed, but there's a hiccup.
The government seems to be lagging.
Spacex's vice president of build and reliability expressed his
concerns and plans to voice them at a Senate hearing this week.
The goal is to press Congress to simplify regulations and hire
more Federal Aviation Administration staff for license
issuance. Now here's the kicker.
SpaceX is not just concerned about the speed, but also the
volume. With other industry players
stepping in, they anticipate a specific and significant
industry problem. The government's slow pace might
be a choke point, preventing the private sector from soaring to
new heights and launching more frequently.
It's not just SpaceX this could impact the entire Space Flight
industry. Now consider the case for
Spacex's inaugural Starship flight last April.
It had to be terminated due to uncontrolled tumbling, resulting
in an FAA investigation. And the FAA demanded 63
corrective actions for SpaceX, delaying further Starship
launches, a tug of war between private innovation and public
regulation. And that's kind of how it
worked. For now, SpaceX officials have
reported that they spent two years securing the initial
Starship launch license. It had been waiting months for
the second Tim Hughes, who's Spacex's senior vice president
for global business and government affairs, mentioned
this. SpaceX is eager to fly, but is
waiting for the government to catch up.
According to Hughes, if a company can build a rocket
faster than it can be regulated, something is going on.
Hughes suggested the need for regulatory reforms to address
this imbalance. Now this brings us to another
salient point, NASA's involvement.
In 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to use
Starship for its Artemis program, and given the national
importance, SpaceX officials argue that such projects should
be prioritized by the FAA. One would expect such a venture
to be fast track Now. It's no secret that Elon Musk
has been critical of regulators now specifically targeting the
FAA for its slow pace. In late 2020, SpaceX launched A
Starship prototype in violation of its FAA license.
Musk made his opinions clear through his tweets, stating that
the FAA's existing rules are not suited for an industry.
It's so drastically different from what it was just a decade
ago. Recent interactions between Musk
and the senior FAA officials were described as cordial and
productive, yet the FAA is yet to comment on the matter.
They have, however, mentioned the keeping up with the industry
is a challenge they're willing to rise to.
Despite the bureaucracy, it seems like there's room for
improvement and perhaps a middle ground where both parties can
meet. And according to the FAA
officials, the agency has been requesting additional resources
for years but has seen little action.
Currently, they've reallocated all resources from Spacex's
other programs to focus on the next Starship launch.
This means Falcon projects are on hold for the moment,
showcasing the strain that the FAA is experiencing in keeping
up now forecasting the future. The FAA license just 15 launches
in 2015, and that number is expected to reach 288 by 2027.
With SpaceX planning on as many as 12 launches a month next
year, and new rockets from ULA and Blue Origin on the horizon,
the demand for FAA oversight will only multiply over time.
If not addressed now, the problem could spiral into
something unmanageable now. SpaceX expressed that the
current situation is jeopardizing not just to them,
but also US leadership in spaceflight.
The regulatory approach is clashing with the pace of
innovation, putting a damper on the industry's future.
However, he emphasized that the goal is not to compromise public
safety, but to find a way to move efficiently within that
framework. So where do we go from here?
It's a balancing act. Striking harmony between
innovation and regulation is the need of the hour.
Let's hope that the upcoming Senate hearing sheds a little
bit of light on this issue and paves the way for constructive
solutions. That brings us to the end of
today's episode. Thank you for tuning in, and if
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