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Elon Musk has been embarrassing the Biden administration for the past eight months by constantly rejecting federal safety standards and causing too many public safety hazards to count. From SpaceX's exploding rockets to Tesla's autopilot malfunctions, Musk has appeared to reject law and order at a scale that the previous administration would have never permitted.
Now, with Musk’s ostensible continued push to expand his unapproved launch tower in Texas, the spinelessness of Biden’s Federal Aviation Administration is becoming extremely problematic for national security.
SpaceX is building a massive orbital rocket hanger and accompanying rocket in Texas, from which it plans to launch the largest rocket in history in the coming weeks — a mere mile from a residential neighborhood and a wildlife refuge.
Stone Washington
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Although the FAA, which is currently investigating the matter, has repeatedly stated that the hanger, orbital rocket, and expanded facilities fall beyond the approved terms of SpaceX's launch license and may be in violation of numerous public safety and environmental regulations, Musk’s team is moving full speed ahead.
SpaceX told the FAA in May that its new Texas tower wasn't for launches, only for "production, research and development purposes." However, the FAA has pointed out that SpaceX's own Programmatic Environmental Assessment application implies that the facilities are for launches. As such, critics are worried that Musk will launch the rocket without receiving FAA approval. Given how easily the Biden FAA buckled to Musk's last violation of federal regulations, it's easy to understand why.
Back in December, after Musk launched his first prototype without a permit, the Trump FAA grounded his operations and opened an investigation. However, by the time the issue reached Congress, Biden was in office, and — coincidentally or not — the FAA started changing its tune. Although the FAA’s senior leadership officials have remained virtually unchanged, once the White House changed hands, the FAA's commercial space administrator, Wayne Monteith, decided not to penalize the company for its deliberate neglect of the law. He stated that he believed SpaceX had done enough to reform its company culture and would fall into line. The months that have followed have shown that's simply not the case.
SpaceX has since turned its small launching base in Texas into a full experimental testing ground, openly building facilities that the FAA has said are outside the approval of its licenses. Last week, it publicly displayed the largest rocket in history on the launchpad.
What will happen in a few weeks if SpaceX declares it's ready to launch the rocket before the FAA concludes its review process? Considering the FAA has repeatedly rolled over this year when faced with pushback from SpaceX, there’s reason to worry that the agency will again fearfully acquiesce and allow Musk to continue doing as he pleases, public safety be damned.
Regardless of how one feels about SpaceX, its ambitious mission, or even Elon Musk personally, it should trouble every American that one of our wealthiest citizens can publicly write his own rulebook and launch rockets with little, if any, regard for whether it could put the public in harm's way.
It's the FAA's job to ensure sky-bound transportation doesn’t expose the public to unnecessary harm or hazard. It's the White House's job to ensure its agencies are executing their jobs properly. A stronger administration wouldn’t be so easily bullied.
Should Musk decide to launch the rocket, the Biden FAA must finally put its foot down and say enough is enough. If it doesn’t, there's no telling how much more brazen Musk will become or how many others will follow his lead.
Laws are laws; they are mandatory and not to be followed optionally. It’s high time for the Biden administration to stand up for public safety by making clear that’s the case.
Stone Washington is a member of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Project 21 black leadership network