Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast. This is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company and Neuralink. I'm your host Will Walden. When Space XS massive Starship rocket exploded over the Caribbean in January, scattering debris across multiple islands, the FAA acted swiftly.
The agency temporarily grounded the program, launched an investigation and signaled that it was ready to enforce regulations meant to ensure public safety. It was the latest in a series of regulatory measures that have put the FA as Office of Commercial Space Transportation on a collision course with Elon Musk. He's the billionaire who's behind the world's most powerful commercial rocket company, SpaceX.
But now with Musk holding an influential government position under President Donald Trump's administration, the future of the oversight is anything but certain. Now, before diving into this, a quick reminder. Analytics show that only 20% of you listening to this podcast are subscribed to it. It means 80% of you are returning listeners who haven't hit the follow button. If you enjoy these deep looks into the biggest stories, subscribing ensures you'll never miss an episode.
And I'll keep doing everything I can in my power to bring you the best content possible on this channel. Now Elon Musk, now the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, has been vocal about his frustrations with the FA as regulatory approach. He's accused the agency of using lawfare against SpaceX and threatened legal action over what he calls regulatory
overreach. Following the September 23rd or September 2023 announcement that the FAA was proposing $633,000 in fines against SpaceX for safety violations, Musk took to X to call for drastic reforms. He said the fundamental problem is that humanity will forever be confined to Earth unless there is a radical reform at the FAA now with Musk now with the helm of a federal department focused on cutting costs and eliminating regulatory barriers, current and former FA.
As employees fear that EST and office already struggling to keep up with the surge in commercial space activity could be in his crosshairs. Former FAA employee said people are nervous, WHO spoke on a condition of anonymity now AS TS role is crucial though it licenses commercial rocket launches, assesses public safety risks, evaluates environmental impacts and ensures compliance with Airsafe regulations.
Yet it operates with only about 160 people despite overseeing a skyrocketing number of launches every single week. Now. The numbers tell the story though. In 20/19, AST licensed just 26 launches by 2023 or in 2019. Then in 2023, it jumped up to 157, most of them conducted by SpaceX. It was an increase of exponential proportions. And warning is that there's no sign of it slowing down if a rocket goes off course and nobody's double checking it.
And so you have a major catastrophic event that's going to result in a huge backlash. Musk, however, sees things a little bit differently. SpaceX operates under what is called rapid iterative development and engineering philosophy that emphasizes moving fast, accepting failures, and improving on those failures with each test. This approach has led to dramatic advancements in rocket technology, but it's also resulted in explosions, debris incidents and concerns about public safety.
Last month's Starship explosion forced dozens of commercial aircraft to divert their past to avoid falling wreckage from the Starship. Debris landed in populated areas of the Caribbean, damaging at least one car, and FAA investigators are still determining what went wrong. Now if that car was a person, this would be completely different. Despite the risks, Musk brushed it off, and he posted a video of the flaming debris field with the caption. Success is uncertain, but
entertainment is guaranteed. He later dismissed the explosion as barely a bump in the road and suggested it wouldn't delay plans for the next launch. Despite the fact the FAA approval is still pending, some experts are alarmed by the situation. Jariba JA, an aerospace engineering professor at the University of Texas, described Musk's attitude as recklessness at a minimum. JA also pointed out what he sees as serious conflict of interest.
He said that he now gets to provide government oversight over the things that he is trying to get permission to do is one of the most significant conflicts of interest I've seen in my career, and it's inexplicable to me. The White House has been largely silent on Doge's role in the FAA. Officials have only reference comments from Trump, who insisted that if Musk faced a conflict of interest. We won't let him go near it.
Said Trump. And they said will Musk will excuse himself from these contracts if needed. But Musk isn't the only one advocating for less oversight of commercial spaceflight. Some members of Congress argue that FAA regulations are too restrictive and could slow
America's progress in space. At a hearing in last September, Representative Bryant Babin, a Texas Republican and the incoming chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, warned that excessive regulation could unnecessarily delay the return of astronauts to the moon for the Artemis program. And Babin did not respond to requests for an interview from us.
So there you have it. And the pressure on AST is expected to intensify under Trump's new Transportation secretary, Sean Duffy. During his confirmation hearing, Senator Ted Cruz criticized the FA as enforcement actions against SpaceX and asked Duffy whether he would commit to curtailing bureaucratic overreach and accelerating launch approvals. Duffy responded. I commit to doing a review and working with you.
Since taking office, Duffy has already spoken with Musk about potential changes to FAA oversight, a move that draw criticism from Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, who called it a conflict of interest. Now, some lawmakers, including Representative Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the science committee, acknowledged the need for regulatory streamlining but insist that safety must remain a
priority. There needs to be a traffic cop here, Lofgren said, pointing to concerns over space debris, noise pollution and risks to launchpad neighbors. This can't just be the Wild West, right? And to speed, AS despite ASTS crucial role, its budget remains minimal. That's $42 million a year, less than 1% of the FAA's total budget.
Now astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracks space launches at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, argues that as the industry grows, AST will need more resources, not fewer. Government will need to play a role, and they're going to have to sort it out. A 2023 government advisory committee recommended that AST be removed from the FAA and restructured as an independent agency within the Department of Transportation.
Supporters of the proposal argued that AST would get more resources and attention if it operated separately. Others believe that the FAA's traditional focus on commercial aviation safety, where failures are not tolerated, is fundamentally incapable with an industry where failures are expected and even necessary for progress. The tension between safety and innovation is at the core of the
debate. Though Government Accountability Office report founded over a three-year period leading up to 2023, there are about a dozen mishaps in commercial Space Flight industry terminology for catastrophic explosions and major failures. None of these incidents resulted in deaths or serious injury, though.
But they had other impacts. The first starlet Starship launch in April 2023, for example, sent a massive cloud of debris over South Texas, scattering chunks of concrete and metal across an environmentally sensitive migratory bird habitat. Local residents have voiced concerns about the growing risks, but they've often been ignored. Musk, however, has openly mocked the concerns. When reports emerged the Spacex's debris had stained bird eggs with soot, he responded
sarcastically. To make up for this heinous crime over refrain from having omelette for a week. SpaceX is already pushing AST to approve an aggressive lock schedule. Company completed 4 Starship launches in 2024 and aims for 25 more in 2025. Now, whether the FAA, under pressure from Musk and the Trump administration, will maintain its authority to regulate these launches remains an open question.
For now, though, the AST and the oversight for the world's most powerful commercial rocket company may rest in the hands of the very man it was designed to regulate. Hey, thank you so much for listening today. I really do appreciate your support. If you could take a second and hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening on right now, I greatly appreciate it. It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never
miss an episode. And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you caught up quickly. And please, if you want to support the show even more, go to patreon.com/stagezero and please take care of yourselves and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.