SpaceX Says Starship Launch License Delayed to November

SpaceX is openly criticizing what it sees as unacceptable delays in the licensing process for the next launch of its Starship rocket, saying US government approval is going to take months longer than it originally expected.

Bloomberg
Published11 Sep 2024, 12:20 AM IST
SpaceX Says Starship Launch License Delayed to November
SpaceX Says Starship Launch License Delayed to November

(Bloomberg) -- SpaceX is openly criticizing what it sees as unacceptable delays in the licensing process for the next launch of its Starship rocket, saying US government approval is going to take months longer than it originally expected.

In a lengthy update posted on its website Tuesday, SpaceX said it expects to receive a license from the Federal Aviation Administration in late November to launch the fifth test flight of its Starship rocket. The FAA previously communicated a mid-September approval time frame, SpaceX said. 

An FAA representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX released its update as Kelvin Coleman, the head of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation office, testified at a House hearing on how to better streamline the rocket launch licensing process. In response to a question about the pace of approval, Coleman addressed Starship specifically.  

“Missions change. Technologies on the vehicles change, which require a modification to the license,” Coleman said, later adding: “It is the company that is pushing mission-by-mission approvals. That’s what the pace is about.”

SpaceX has said that the vehicles it needs for its fifth Starship launch have been ready since August. The upcoming test launch will see Starship’s main booster attempt to come back to the launch site after taking off, where it will be caught by SpaceX’s launch tower.

Subscribe to Business of Space: The inside stories of investments beyond Earth, from satellite networks to moon landings. Delivered weekly.

The Elon Musk-led company said the reason for the delay wasn’t due to a new safety concern but is “driven by superfluous environmental analysis.”

“Unfortunately, instead of focusing resources on critical safety analysis and collaborating on rational safeguards to protect both the public and the environment, the licensing process has been repeatedly derailed by issues ranging from the frivolous to the patently absurd,” SpaceX said. 

In August, CNBC reported that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had sent a notice of violation to SpaceX, warning that the company had violated environmental regulations by repeatedly releasing pollutants.  

The warning was in regards to SpaceX’s water deluge system, a massive fountain underneath Starship’s launch mount that releases water to mitigate damage from the powerful blast during liftoff.

CNBC also reported that an investigation by TCEQ found that SpaceX had operated the water deluge system multiple times without permitting for wastewater discharge.

In its post, SpaceX criticized the CNBC story and pushed back on the notion that its water deluge system releases pollutants.

“It uses literal drinking water,” SpaceX wrote. “Outflow water has been sampled after every use of the system and consistently shows negligible traces of any contaminants, and specifically, that all levels have remained below standards for all state permits that would authorize discharge.”

SpaceX also argued that it always operated the water deluge system with a permit. 

However, the company had been operating under a more general permit for much of the last year. The company applied for a more specific wastewater discharge permit in July, months after the Environmental Protection Agency sent SpaceX a separate notice of violation, CNBC reported.

“When the EPA issued its Administrative Order in March 2024, it was done before seeking a basic understanding of the facts of the water-cooled steel flame deflector’s operation or acknowledgment that we were operating under the Texas Multi-Sector General Permit,” SpaceX wrote.

(Updates with new details from fourth paragraph.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

MoreLess
First Published:11 Sep 2024, 12:20 AM IST
Business NewsNewsSpaceX Says Starship Launch License Delayed to November

Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!

  • Employment Type

    Most Active Stocks

    Tata Steel share price

    158.30
    03:56 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    -2.4 (-1.49%)

    Bandhan Bank share price

    199.90
    03:55 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    -11.1 (-5.26%)

    Wipro share price

    549.45
    03:59 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    20.5 (3.88%)

    Indian Oil Corporation share price

    165.40
    03:53 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    2.2 (1.35%)
    More Active Stocks

    Market Snapshot

    • Top Gainers
    • Top Losers
    • 52 Week High

    Tech Mahindra share price

    1,692.75
    03:54 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    47 (2.86%)

    National Aluminium Company share price

    226.50
    03:51 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    3.8 (1.71%)

    Divis Laboratories share price

    6,212.10
    03:29 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    70.95 (1.16%)

    HCL Technologies share price

    1,856.00
    03:59 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    16.45 (0.89%)
    More from 52 Week High

    Avenue Supermarts share price

    4,184.45
    03:50 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    -387.9 (-8.48%)

    Tata Chemicals share price

    1,102.95
    03:59 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    -81.3 (-6.87%)

    Bandhan Bank share price

    199.90
    03:55 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    -11.1 (-5.26%)

    Colgate Palmolive India share price

    3,518.80
    03:53 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    -170.45 (-4.62%)
    More from Top Losers

    Aptus Value Housing Finance India share price

    388.75
    03:53 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    27.75 (7.69%)

    Finolex Industries share price

    316.05
    03:58 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    16.9 (5.65%)

    Federal Bank share price

    197.00
    03:40 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    9.65 (5.15%)

    Raymond share price

    1,682.85
    03:47 PM | 14 OCT 2024
    79.95 (4.99%)
    More from Top Gainers

    Recommended For You

      More Recommendations

      Gold Prices

      • 24K
      • 22K
      Bangalore
      77,675.00-10.00
      Chennai
      77,681.00-10.00
      Delhi
      77,833.00-10.00
      Kolkata
      77,685.00-10.00

      Fuel Price

      • Petrol
      • Diesel
      Bangalore
      102.86/L0.00
      Chennai
      100.75/L0.00
      Kolkata
      104.95/L0.00
      New Delhi
      94.72/L0.00

      Popular in News

        HomeMarketsPremiumInstant LoanMint Shorts