British officials told the United States that they are concerned about the security of Spacex’s plans to fly their next spacecraft on the British territories in the Caribbean, where the rubble fell earlier this year after two of the company’s rockets exploded.
The concerns of the United Kingdom Government, detailed in a letter to an upper American diplomat on Wednesday, follow the decision of the Federal Aviation Administration last week to grant the Spacex request of a fifty increase in the number of spatial sailing allowed releases allowed this year. A priority for Spacex Elon Musk chiefWho is also one of the closest advisors of President Donald Trump.
Or a private group for British officials is the security of the public in the British Virgin, Anguila and the Turkish Islands and Caicos, all of which could fall on the flight route of Starship 9.
After the explosion in January, the residents of the Turks and the Caicos reported that they found pieces of the rocket on beaches and roads. A car was also damaged in the Starship accident 7. Seven weeks later, after receiving the blessing of the FAA to proceed, Spacex launched Starship 8 from Boca Chica, Texas, but also exploded after takeoff. Air traffic was diverted in the region, and the flames of the rocket that fell were visible in the sky from the Bahamas and the Florida coast.
The British Charter to an official of the US Department of State. Launch of security times until minimizing safety risks and economic impact for British territories for British territories.
The letter also requests that the United States government provides the United Kingdom for more information on the increase in security measures that will be implemented before starch 9, and that British territories are given enough warning to communicate with Sure.
“We have legs working closely with the US government partners.
The State Department did not respond to requests for comments.
Spacex did not respond to a request for comments. But the company has said that it learns from its mistakes. “With a test like this, success is combined with what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve the reliability of spacecraft.” The company said After Starship 8. “We will carry out an exhaustive investigation, in coordination with FAA, and we will implement corrective actions to make improvements in future ship’s flight flight tests.”
Musk, who sees the increase in releases as critics for the development of technology that could help land astronauts on the moon and, ultimately, Mars, has been less diplomatic.
He minimized the January explosion as “Just a blow on the roadAnd seemed to brush security groups, Publish a video of the debris field in flames With the title, “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”
Spacex has not announced the release date of Starship 9, but News reports I have said that it could happen as soon as May 21. However, the last explosion is still under investigation.
In response to the questions for this story, the FAA said that “it works closely with our international partners to mitigate public safety risks for launches with FAA licenses. We are in close contact and collaboration with the United Kingdom and the Turkish Islands and Caicos, as well as other regional partners, as we continue to evaluate the application for modification of Spacex of modification for its proposed launch of the star flight 9”.
The FAA Commercial Space Transport Office, which license and restart, is experiencing a leadership shake. Three senior executives, including the head of the office, announced in April that they were accepting voluntary separation sacrifices.
Musk has led efforts to reduce the federal government through the departure of thousands of federal workers. Critics say it has an inherent conflict of interest because companies are regulated by agencies such as FAA and trust their approach.
Musk said in an February interview that “I will challenge if it is a conflict. “White House spokesman Harrison Fields, said Thorsday that” all administration officials will meet the conflict requirements. “
Last year, LA FAA proposes $ 633,000 in fines Against Spacex for violations related to two previous releases. Musk, in turn, accused FAA of participating in the “law” and threatened to sue him for “regulatory overreach.” The administrative case remains open.
The number of rocket releases has increased dramatically in recent years, which led the pilots and academics to warn about a growing danger in the air for flights that only have minutes to get out of the wound an accident, such as explosions, others.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia who found themselves in a Study published in January That risk space objects pose for airplanes are increasing. They said that the possibility of an “unofficial re -entry” of a rocket for a year is a high axis of 26% for some large and occupied areas of airspace, such as those found in the United States, in northern Europe or near the cities of the registry.
Una gran unión para los pilotos de aviones dijo a los funcionarios de la FAA en enero que la ruptura de Starship 7 “plantea conns connicional addital sobre si la FAA está proporcionando la separación adecuada de las operaciones espaciales de los vuelos de las aerolíneas”, según un litro The Rock después de la roca después de la roca después de la roca después del día después del día después del rock.
“FAA’s air traffic control capacity to respond in a timely manner to a non -forceful rocket anomaly should be more thoroughly evaluated,” said the letter of the airline pilots association, which refesses 79,000 pilots in 42 US and Canadian airlines. He asked that flight crews resort more information about high -risk areas before a launch so that they can “make an informed and timely decision about their need to potentially reject flight plans that cross their planes under the space course.”
In an answer, FAA said it would review its processes to see if you can do more to prepare flight crews before a launch.
Captain Jason Ambrosi, the president of the union, said in a statement sent by email to Propublic that the changes are necessary. “Any security risk raised for commercial airlines operations is unacceptable.”
