Statement Takes Government Agencies to Task for Needless Bureaucratic Delays

SpaceX updated its official press wire with an exasperated rundown of the state of Flight 5, noting that "Starship and Super Heavy vehicles for Flight 5 have been ready to launch since the first week of August."

The Flight 5 test will include their "most ambitious objective yet: attempt to return the Super Heavy booster to the launch site and catch it in mid-air." SpaceX doesn't quite move like the rest of Uncle Sam's usual contractors, carrying that get-it-done, mission-focused drive, so leaving everything paused as the courtiers shuffle documents between themselves leaves the team irritated and impatient. The tone of SpaceX's piece helped to drive in their point, as those throughout the space industry and its fandom picked up on a level of palpable grumpiness seldom seen in official communiques.

"It's understandable that such a unique operation would require additional time to analyze from a licensing perspective," said Space X. "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. At times, these roadblocks have been driven by false and misleading reporting, built on bad-faith hysterics from online detractors or special interest groups who have presented poorly constructed science as fact."

The long and short of it: SpaceX just wants to launch, to the point they aren't even going to fight the imposition of fees and fines they vehemently disagree with - they would rather focus efforts on Flight 5 and those to follow. "The subsequent fines levied on SpaceX by TCEQ and the EPA are entirely tied to disagreements over paperwork. We chose to settle so that we can focus our energy on completing the missions and commitments that we have made to the U.S. government, commercial customers, and ourselves. Paying fines is extremely disappointing when we fundamentally disagree with the allegations, and we are supported by the fact that EPA has agreed that nothing about the operation of our flame deflector will need to change. Only the name of the permit has changed."

The disagreement concerns a blast deflector used in their Texas launch site. The long and short of it: SpaceX worked with the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality to ensure that the water used around their blast shield was properly captured and controlled to ensure the retention of possible pollution, going above and beyond what they may have needed, given the lack of pollutants to begin with. SpaceX stressed that the water remains potable before and after the launch process, with no chemicals added to it during the launch process, but the EPA abruptly decided they wanted to impose a higher level of permitting. Perhaps most telling is that nothing about the system has to be altered or improved, essentially proving SpaceX correct in the level of environmental risk involved. Instead, the issue comes down to paperwork, the internecine battles of regulatory fiefdoms as they brake against the march of progress.

FMI: www.spacex.com