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WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) – The House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said on Monday it was investigating a SpaceX commercial space launch that regulators have determined violated U.S. security requirements and its trial license.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in February that SpaceX’s December launch of Starship SN8 went without the company demonstrating that the public risk of “far-field explosion overpressure” met regulatory criteria.
The FAA says the far-field explosion overpressure can be a hazard to the public if the launcher explodes on impact, potentially creating a shock wave that damages windows in areas relatively far from the impact site.
House of Commons Transport Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio and Representative Rick Larsen, who oversees the Aviation Subcommittee, said last Thursday in a letter to the FAA that “given the nature to high risk industry, we are disappointed that the FAA refused to conduct an independent review. of the event and, to our knowledge, has not engaged in any form of coercive action. “
In February, the FAA said it had asked SpaceX to investigate the incident, including a full review of its safety culture, “operational decision-making and process discipline.”
The FAA has ordered some tests at the Texas launch site to be suspended until the investigation is complete and approved the company’s corrective actions.
The FAA said the corrective measures from SpaceX were incorporated into a launch in February and that it planned “not to take any further law enforcement action on the SN8 issue.”
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. The letter was reported earlier by Politico.
The FAA declined to comment on the letter.
Committee staff have been reviewing for the past two months “SpaceX’s launch activities which, taken together, raise serious questions,” the letter from lawmakers said, urging the FAA to “resist any potential undue influence on decision-making in the matter. safety of launches ”.
SpaceX owner and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk tweeted Sunday about a “possible Starship flight tomorrow afternoon.” He said Monday that “the FAA inspector couldn’t reach Starbase in time for launch today. Postponed until tomorrow at the earliest. “
In January, Musk tweeted that “the FAA’s space division has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure” and that “humanity will never reach Mars” by its rules. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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