SpaceX Receives FAA Authorisation for Starship Rocket Flights

On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared that SpaceX had been given permission to resume flying its enormous Starship rocket.

This follows the January detonation of the Starship rocket on its seventh test flight, which resulted in debris raining down over Turks and Caicos and the cancellation or delay of multiple commercial flights.

The FAA awarded the modified license to SpaceX, which is valued at $350 billion on the private market, despite the need for a continuing accident investigation following the January explosion.

According to a spokeswoman, the space agency has previously approved flights by businesses like SpaceX and Rocket Lab while accident investigations were still ongoing.

Due to alleged safety and procedural infractions in the run-up to two 2023 missions, SpaceX was hit with $633,009 in civil fines from the FAA last year.

The Environmental Protection Agency also penalized SpaceX for violating the Clean Water Act by contaminating Texas waters.

Elon Musk threatened to sue the FAA for "regulatory overreach" after these fines, but he never did.

The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, is now a key player in the administration after helping to catapult President Donald Trump back to the White House with a roughly $300 million donation.

In his capacity as CEO of Tesla and owner of social networking platform X, Musk is in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is slashing federal government manpower and budgets and focusing on the regulatory bodies that keep an eye on his companies.

Musk and his DOGE employees now have unparalleled access to federal data and computer systems, including those within the FAA, thanks to this position.

Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that SpaceX has been chosen to assist in redesigning the FAA’s air traffic control system.

Concerning conflicts of interest, Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote to FAA acting administrator Chris Rocheleau on Friday.

SpaceX's goals depend on Starship, the tallest and most potent rocket ever launched.

When stacked on the Super Heavy booster, Starship stands 403 feet tall and is about 30 feet in diameter.

Since April 2023, SpaceX has flown the full Starship rocket system on seven spaceflight tests.

The company announced in a social media post that it aims to conduct its eighth Starship test flight as soon as Monday, March 3.