NASA and the Private Sector - Page 221

The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday concluded a long-awaited assessment of SpaceX’s Starship rocket program in Texas, requiring Elon Musk’s company make environmental adjustments in order to move forward with its plans.

FAA released two key documents about the decision: A summary of the environmental assessment and the detailed rundown of the actions the company must take. In a press release, the FAA noted SpaceX will be required to take more than 75 actions to mitigate environmental impacts before the company can receive a launch license.

SpaceX needs a license from the regulator to conduct further Starship flight tests and begin operational launches from its private facility, provided it makes changes to the Starship program in Texas to limit environmental harm.

SpaceX is developing its nearly 400-foot-tall, reusable Starship rocket with the goal of carrying cargo and groups of people beyond Earth. The rocket and its Super Heavy booster are powered by SpaceX’s Raptor series of engines.

The FAA began a review of the program in November 2020 after the company began to build up its infrastructure and operations on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, near the city of Brownsville, Texas.

The agency delayed its final assessment five times over the past six months as it reviewed input on the program. Its ruling Monday of a Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact is a partial win for SpaceX, saving the company from a more lengthy review of its operations, known as an Environmental Impact Statement.

As part of the FAA’s review, a report this year from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service obtained by CNBC found a correlation between SpaceX activity in the area and recent declines in the local population of the piping plover, an endangered bird species. However, the FWS suggested minimal spending or conservation commitments from SpaceX.

SpaceX has completed multiple high-altitude flight tests with Starship prototypes, but its has yet to reach space following development and regulatory delays. In February, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave a presentation on Starship at the company’s Starbase facility in Texas, outlining the path forward and obstacles for the rocket’s testing.

SpaceX, the private rocket company, on Thursday fired employees who helped write and distribute an open letter criticizing the behavior of chief executive Elon Musk, said three employees with knowledge of the situation.

Some SpaceX employees began circulating the letter, which denounced Mr. Musk’s activity on Twitter, on Wednesday. The letter called the billionaire’s public behavior and tweeting “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment” and asked the company to rein him in. Mr. Musk is currently closing a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter.

By Thursday afternoon, SpaceX had fired some of the letter’s organizers, according to the three employees and an email from Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer. In her email, which was obtained by The New York Times, she said the company had investigated and “terminated a number of employees involved” with the letter.