The head of the Federal Aviation Administration has pushed back against Elon Musk’s claim that the agency should punish Boeing for its Starliner failures rather than impose “petty” fines on SpaceX.
“I think Boeing and SpaceX should have the same oversight. They should all have safety management systems. They should all have whistleblower programs,” said Whitaker, in comments to reporters on Tuesday reported by Reuters.
In a post on X last week, Musk railed against the FAA’s proposed $633,000 fine for SpaceX over two instances where the rocket company violated its launch licenses.
“NASA deemed the Boeing capsule unsafe for astronaut return, turning, out of necessity, to SpaceX, yet instead of fining Boeing for putting astronauts at risk, the FAA is fining SpaceX for trivia,” the billionaire SpaceX founder wrote.
A SpaceX rocket is set to return Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, the two astronauts left stranded on the International Space Station by Boeing’s malfunctioning Starliner spacecraft, to Earth next year.
Starliner ultimately returned from orbit without any passengers after the craft experienced a series of helium leaks on its first crewed voyage, leading NASA to turn to SpaceX instead in a huge blow for Boeing.
Whitaker defended the $633,000 fine at a US House of Representatives hearing on Tuesday, telling lawmakers that SpaceX needs to operate at the “highest level of safety.”
He said the rocket firm had violated agency rules by launching satellites into orbit without the correct permit — which SpaceX slammed as incorrect.
SpaceX is also engaged in a war of words with the aviation regulator over delays to the next launch of Starship, the giant rocket Musk wants to use to travel to Mars.
Earlier this month, the company said it didn’t expect to get approval to launch Starship for the fifth time until November, two months later than expected.
Musk criticized the delay on X, writing that humanity will “never get to Mars if this continues.”
Whitaker also defended the delay in the next Starship launch at the House hearing, stating that Musk’s company had failed to complete an updated sonic boom analysis and had failed to comply with Texas law.
The FAA and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside normal working hours.
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