Elon Musk criticizes launch regulations after SpaceX launch was delayed by a day
The 20th mission of SpaceX this year was delayed by a day on Tuesday due to an aircraft entering the launch range just seconds before launch. The CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk took to Twitter to vent his frustration regarding the event and reiterating his prior scrutiny on the regulations surrounding the launching of rockets.
“An aircraft entered the ‘keep out zone’, which is unreasonably gigantic,” Musk wrote in a tweet.
“There is simply no way that humanity can become a spacefaring civilization without major regulatory reform. The current regulatory system is broken,” he added.
Musk has amped up his criticism of launch regulations this year, with SpaceX launching Falcon rockets fervently and at astronomical speed, a lunch averaging about 9 days. In addition to launches, SpaceX has been conducting multiple development tests of its Starship prototype rockets. Similar criticism was aimed towards the Federal Aviation Administration by Musk after a Starship test was delayed in January.
“Unlike its aircraft division, which is fine, the FAA space division has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure,” Musk wrote then. “Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.”
The FAA has not remained silent on the matter and pushed back on the space company after a violation was observed in its launch license with the authorized test flight of Starship prototype SN8 in December. Following the incident, the FAA has stated that SpaceX has “modified their procedures effectively” and earlier this month testified before Congress regarding the streamlining of the launch process.
Although he’s publicly criticized regulators, Musk has also stated that “99.9% of the time, I agree with regulators!”
“On rare occasions, we disagree. This is almost always due to new technologies that past regulations didn’t anticipate,” Musk said in April
