SpaceX's Falcon 9 Polaris Dawn rocket rests on Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, preparing for another launch attempt at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sept. 9, 2024.
Joe Rydell | Getty Images
Elon Musk said SpaceX will sue the Federal Aviation Administration for “regulatory overreach” after the agency planned to fine his defense contractor over problems with two launches last year.
Musk's threat to sue came in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday, after the Federal Aviation Administration announced it would fine SpaceX up to $633,000 because the company apparently failed to comply with a variety of licensing and safety regulations during those launches.
The Federal Aviation Administration said SpaceX used an “uncertified rocket fuel farm” for its EchoStar XXIV Jupiter mission in July 2023. The FAA said SpaceX modified its communications plans and used a new, uncertified launch control room for its launch a month earlier from Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida.
According to the “Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty,” the FAA clearly informed SpaceX on June 16, 2023, two days before the launch, that the agency “would not issue an amendment” to SpaceX’s license. But SpaceX went ahead anyway.
Musk and a SpaceX spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for additional information about the focus of the company's complaint.
Musk also posted comments on X, describing the FAA's recent proposed civil penalties as “lawfare.”
“NASA is trusting @SpaceX to fly all astronauts to and from the ISS, but somehow the FAA leadership thinks they know better,” he wrote in a post to his nearly 200 million followers.
In another post, Musk said: “I am very confident that the discovery will show politically motivated inappropriate behavior by the FAA.”
The FAA did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.
In a recent blog post, SpaceX complained about the “difficulties launch companies face in the current regulatory environment,” particularly with regard to “launch and reentry licensing.”
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would fine the company $175,000 for failing to provide required data ahead of a Falcon 9 launch in 2022. SpaceX paid the fine in full by October.
In August, the FAA was forced to cancel an approved environmental review of SpaceX’s Starship Super Heavy because Musk’s company failed to disclose that it had received multiple enforcement actions from Texas and federal environmental authorities.
The FAA’s latest proposed civil penalties highlight the agency’s difficulties in obtaining the information it needs from SpaceX in time to review and license launches and reentries.
As CNBC previously reported, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found that SpaceX repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act and failed to obtain proper permits to discharge industrial wastewater at its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
In addition to facing the FAA and environmental regulators, Musk has clashed with the National Labor Relations Board. He filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the NLRB is unconstitutional in its structure and that its administrative processes violate the separation of powers.
