Tag Archives: SpaceFlight

FAA wants to impose more than $630K in fines for SpaceX launch violations

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alleges that SpaceX committed three safety violations by failing to follow its license requirements during two of its space launches in 2023. If the full fines are imposed, SpaceX faces a bill of $633,009, according to an FAA statement.

The license violations are related to two separate SpaceX’s launches. The first two happened on June 18, 2023 as part of the PSN Satria Mission that launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The second violation happened on July 28, 2023 involving plans for the EchoStar XXIV/Jupiter mission.

Across the two cases, SpaceX requested to revise part of its communications and explosive site plans respectively. SpaceX allegedly went ahead with its revised plans even though the FAA did not approve or issue modifications to its license, according to letters written by the FAA.

In May 2023, SpaceX requested the addition of a new launch control room and the removal of the T-2 hour readiness poll from its procedures for its June 18, 2023 launch. The FAA informed SpaceX on June 15 and 16 that it would not approve the modifications to SpaceX’s license before its scheduled June 18 launch, but the launch went ahead with its unauthorized control room and without a T-2 hour poll. Two months later, SpaceX submitted a request for a newly constructed rocket propellant farm for its launch on July 28, 2023 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once again, the FAA did not approve the modification but the farm was used anyway during its scheduled launch.

SpaceX is facing two $175,000 fines for the June 18 violations and a $293,009 fine for the July 28 violation. SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the accusations in writing. The space company can choose to hold an informal conference with an FAA attorney or submit additional information to the FAA to plead its case. A full list of the FAA’s fine enforcement procedures are available on the administration’s website.

That hasn’t stopped SpaceX CEO and self-appointed “Technoking of Tesla” Elon Musk from sounding off about how he plans to address the FAA’s proposed fines. Musk posted on X that “SpaceX will be filing suit against the FAA for regulatory overreach.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/faa-wants-to-impose-more-than-630k-in-fines-for-spacex-launch-violations-223408990.html?src=rss

Polaris Dawn astronauts successfully perform the first commercial spacewalk

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Polaris Dawn astronauts Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis have successfully exited the confines of their Crew Dragon vehicle to perform the first ever commercial spacewalk on September 12. SpaceX and the Polaris crew started preparing for the event at 6:01AM Eastern time, checking that all their gear was in order and putting on the SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) suits that all four of them have to wear, because opening the Dragon's hatch will expose them to outer space. Pure oxygen was pumped into the suits to check for leaks before all the air was let out of the vehicle and before Isaacman opened the hatch. 

A few minutes before 7AM Eastern, Isaacman went through the hatch and exited the vehicle, with the Dragon's camera capturing his silhouette against our planet as the backdrop. He then performed a series of mobility exercises as planned — the whole point of the spacewalk was to test SpaceX's new EVA suits — before going back into the capsule. "Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do," he said as he emerged from the vehicle. "But from here, it looks like a perfect world."

After he went back to his seat, SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis geared up for her turn. She had to deal with the hatch seal bulging out a bit, but she was ultimately able to climb out of the hatch and do a series of mobility exercises like Isaacman did. Once she was done, the team closed the hatch and started repressurizing Dragon to equalize the atmosphere inside before checking the cabin for any leaks. By 7:55AM, Dragon's repressurization was complete, marking the completion of today's spacewalk. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/polaris-dawn-astronauts-successfully-perform-the-first-commercial-spacewalk-120048616.html?src=rss

Starship survives reentry to splash down in the Indian Ocean after successful fourth flight test

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SpaceX’s Starship just soared through a series of critical milestones in its development, surviving reentry through Earth’s atmosphere and demonstrating a landing burn for the first time, before splashing down in the Indian Ocean. Starship lifted off from the company’s Texas Starbase at around 8:50AM ET for its fourth flight test, which focused on demonstrating the reusability of the massive spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster.

A few minutes after launch, Super Heavy separated from Starship and successfully performed a controlled descent to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico as planned. Starship continued flying for about an hour, starting its reentry a little after the 45 minute mark. Live views from an onboard camera made for a nailbiting final few minutes — at an altitude of about 33 miles above Earth, one of the ship’s flaps started to burn off. Then the camera cracked, obscuring the view so little more than flashes of light from plasma could be seen. 

A flap on Starship is seen separating from the ship and burning

But the ship managed to stay intact enough to keep sending data all the way through the moment of its landing burn. SpaceX confirmed splashdown just before 10:00AM ET. The test marks a major success for SpaceX as it works to develop Starship as a transportation system that could carry humans to the moon and Mars.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/starship-survives-reentry-to-splash-down-in-the-indian-ocean-after-successful-fourth-flight-test-142912013.html?src=rss