The lone organization possibly strong enough to challenge Elon Musk
Musk aims to confront the regulator with the most authority over his space enterprise in a public showdown. Will his approach be effective?
TroibNews 
One of the most cautious and rules-bound segments of the federal government is facing a significant challenge from what may be its most formidable adversary yet: “first buddy” Elon Musk.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has spent years in conflict with Musk’s SpaceX over numerous operational violations, including several launches that occurred without proper approval. Over the last year, the FAA proposed a fine of $633,009 against SpaceX for utilizing plans that were not authorized by the agency and forced the company to cease operations at its Texas launch pads for months due to an ongoing review by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
In response, Musk, known for his rapid and often disruptive approach, has taken an aggressive stance. He has used his extensive social media platform to threaten legal action against the FAA for “regulatory overreach,” accused the agency of engaging in “politically motivated behavior,” and mockingly criticized the FAA's rules, claiming they are too slow to support his ambition of colonizing Mars. He has even called for the resignation of FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, who still has four years left in his term.
Now, Musk finds himself in a position to potentially exert significant influence over the future of the aviation regulator. This opportunity arises after President-elect Donald Trump assigned him, alongside fellow supporter Vivek Ramaswamy, the task of reshaping and streamlining the federal government.
Although Trump has yet to provide specific details about the proposed Department of Government Efficiency, including its potential status within the federal framework, the FAA—employing around 50,000 staff—represents a considerable target for Musk. This situation could demonstrate how Musk might leverage his ties with the incoming administration to retaliate against agencies that have impeded his business pursuits.
The FAA possesses structural advantages that other adversaries of Musk lack. Built upon decades of legislation, the agency has ultimate authority over national airspace, and it generally commands respect in Congress, despite complaints regarding lax oversight of Boeing in recent years. Lawmakers have shown little interest in disrupting an aviation system that has maintained a record of safety, with no fatal crashes involving U.S.-based airlines since 2009, and which constitutes more than 5% of the U.S. GDP.
However, some bipartisan lawmakers have indicated willingness to revisit aspects of the FAA's jurisdiction that Musk has frequently contested—namely, the regulation of commercial space activities.
Representative Rick Crawford, anticipated to chair the House Transportation Committee overseeing the FAA, has prioritized reforming the agency's space regulations. Under his leadership, Crawford confirmed to PMG that he would seek to revise the FAA's permitting procedures, which Musk has long criticized for hindering SpaceX's rocket launch schedules.
“There’s definitely some changes that need to be made,” Crawford stated, highlighting the FAA's overly stringent and slow processes for approving launches. Other GOP members have expressed concerns that the U.S. risks falling behind China in the space race if the FAA's lengthy regulatory framework remains unchanged.
“For this country to outsource our space program and then try to impede the progress of the very company that we’re relying on seems to be a little bit counterintuitive, so we’re going to attempt to fix that,” Crawford remarked, although he did not specify what "fix" might entail beyond preliminary ideas.
One option lawmakers might consider is excluding the FAA from the regulatory process for launches altogether. In fact, a bill in the House, which has SpaceX's support, proposes allowing the Commerce Department to certify “space objects”—defined as items launched from Earth into space. This bill, however, would not eliminate the FAA's responsibilities.
The FAA issued a statement reaffirming that its primary focus is the safety of the nation’s airspace, which includes ensuring that spacecraft are operating appropriately within it. While Congress has limited the FAA's reign over launch regulations, the agency noted that space enterprises must still adhere to state and federal laws.
Despite the ongoing tensions, the FAA emphasized a commitment to maintaining a “productive working relationship with SpaceX.”
Most of the six current and former FAA officials and industry insiders interviewed for this article believe the FAA will not easily capitulate to Musk's demands, regardless of his public beratement of the agency's leadership.
“He has met an agency that doesn’t just bend, … that has a very clear mission,” remarked one former FAA official, granted anonymity in order to speak candidly about Musk's interactions with the agency over several years. “He is going to need their permission to operate.”
Yet, the FAA has never previously faced a challenger quite like Musk—widely recognized as the world’s wealthiest person and someone closely connected to a president eager to reshape the federal bureaucracy.
One former FAA official mentioned that, in an optimistic scenario, Musk—“who’s obviously very smart”—could facilitate advancements in the space race, potentially enabling technology to progress more rapidly.
“Having these novel perspectives … is never a bad thing,” said this former official, emphasizing the importance of ensuring that safety remains paramount.
Because “what we wouldn’t want to do is wake up and say, ‘What the hell happened there?’” the official added.
A complicated history underpins the FAA's cautious stance. Founded in 1926, the agency has a history of thoroughly analyzing the implications of new technologies in aviation. It took years for the FAA to allow airline passengers to keep electronic devices like iPads and Kindles on during takeoff and it still restricts Amazon's use of drones for parcel delivery outside select testing areas, more than a decade after Jeff Bezos made headlines for unveiling his drone delivery initiative.
Unlike other federal entities that Musk might be accustomed to working with—such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, often criticized for being a lax overseer of automobile manufacturers like Tesla—the FAA operates under strict regulations concerning who is allowed to navigate U.S. airspace. This includes preventing rockets from crashing into residential areas or colliding with passenger aircraft.
“When the FAA makes determinations, they back them up with a lot of detailed analysis,” noted a former FAA administrator, who, along with others quoted in this article, spoke off the record to share candid insights regarding Musk's relationship with the agency. “And if they’re competent in their analysis, they’re not going to back down from that.”
This rigorous process has led to significant friction between Musk and the FAA. Their tense relationship has been evident since at least 2020, stemming from an incident where SpaceX launched a prototype rocket that subsequently exploded on landing, which the FAA stated could have endangered residents near the Boca Chica, Texas launch site.
On December 9, 2020, SpaceX proceeded with the launch despite lacking FAA approval, which was withheld due to adverse weather concerns. Reports at the time indicated that the agency’s weather models indicated a significant risk to nearby residents if the rocket were to explode. SpaceX's crew disregarded these warnings, assuming they were outdated, as indicated by documents obtained by The Verge.
Following the incident, the FAA paused SpaceX's launch license pending an investigation. However, one FAA official familiar with the matter indicated that SpaceX remained undeterred, arguing that the launch was a success and attributing the failure to a “hard landing.” Instead of demonstrating contrition, SpaceX continued to pressure the FAA to expedite its investigation and other pending matters.
Frustrated, then-FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, who was nominated during Trump's first term, called Musk in March 2021 to admonish him, during a conversation described by the FAA official as tense.
“The pressure that SpaceX broadly was applying to the agency was out of line,” the official stated, noting that Dickson was managing the fallout from two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that collectively claimed 346 lives in 2018 and 2019.
“For Dickson, safety dictated timeline—that was on his mind,” the official explained while speaking anonymously.
In the aftermath of the call, the FAA issued an unusual statement asserting that Dickson "made it clear that the FAA expects SpaceX to develop and foster a robust safety culture that stresses adherence to FAA Rules."
In the months that followed, SpaceX continued constructing its Texas facilities. The FAA cautioned that this expansion could “complicate the ongoing environmental review process” concerning Starship. At the time, the FAA reported that SpaceX insisted its construction should not face environmental oversight, to which the FAA countered that the submitted plans implied otherwise.
“To me, it’s an issue of, Musk doesn’t like to ask permission—and he has to have the agency’s permission, not just on [environmental approvals] but also to operate in the airspace,” said the former FAA official.
Although the agency chose not to penalize SpaceX for the incident in 2020, it did impose a fine of $633,009 earlier this year for separate violations where the company diverged from its approved launch plans. In response, Musk threatened legal action against the agency.
Musk's rapidly increasing frequency of space launches takes place not only over the heavily trafficked airspace above Florida, but also in Texas, where Starship launches extend into airspace reaching Mexico.
When Musk expanded operations in Boca Chica, he assumed the FAA would simply “sign off on everything and without any conditions,” according to the former official.
In addition to the FAA’s space branch, the agency’s air traffic division also needs to approve the company’s plans to utilize U.S. airspace. Nonetheless, it should be noted that SpaceX has been a pioneer, becoming one of the first companies to share real-time data with the FAA's air traffic organization, facilitating quicker reopening of airspace.
Whitaker, the current administrator, publicly defended the agency’s motives for SpaceX’s delays in September. The FAA stated that Whitaker and Musk have communicated “on more than one occasion,” though specifics on their most recent interaction were not disclosed.
“What we wouldn’t want to do is have an agency just designed around one entity’s idea of what makes for good … policy,” asserted the second former FAA official. “It could be that Elon’s ideas will be exactly the ideas that the FAA needs to move forward—but there are many users of the airspace.”
The agency must “give it all the due diligence it deserves,” the second official emphasized, “but recognize that we have a very, very complex aerospace system with a myriad of users, and all with a level of input that they want to see.”
Frederick R Cook contributed to this report for TROIB News
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has spent years in conflict with Musk’s SpaceX over numerous operational violations, including several launches that occurred without proper approval. Over the last year, the FAA proposed a fine of $633,009 against SpaceX for utilizing plans that were not authorized by the agency and forced the company to cease operations at its Texas launch pads for months due to an ongoing review by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
In response, Musk, known for his rapid and often disruptive approach, has taken an aggressive stance. He has used his extensive social media platform to threaten legal action against the FAA for “regulatory overreach,” accused the agency of engaging in “politically motivated behavior,” and mockingly criticized the FAA's rules, claiming they are too slow to support his ambition of colonizing Mars. He has even called for the resignation of FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, who still has four years left in his term.
Now, Musk finds himself in a position to potentially exert significant influence over the future of the aviation regulator. This opportunity arises after President-elect Donald Trump assigned him, alongside fellow supporter Vivek Ramaswamy, the task of reshaping and streamlining the federal government.
Although Trump has yet to provide specific details about the proposed Department of Government Efficiency, including its potential status within the federal framework, the FAA—employing around 50,000 staff—represents a considerable target for Musk. This situation could demonstrate how Musk might leverage his ties with the incoming administration to retaliate against agencies that have impeded his business pursuits.
The FAA possesses structural advantages that other adversaries of Musk lack. Built upon decades of legislation, the agency has ultimate authority over national airspace, and it generally commands respect in Congress, despite complaints regarding lax oversight of Boeing in recent years. Lawmakers have shown little interest in disrupting an aviation system that has maintained a record of safety, with no fatal crashes involving U.S.-based airlines since 2009, and which constitutes more than 5% of the U.S. GDP.
However, some bipartisan lawmakers have indicated willingness to revisit aspects of the FAA's jurisdiction that Musk has frequently contested—namely, the regulation of commercial space activities.
Representative Rick Crawford, anticipated to chair the House Transportation Committee overseeing the FAA, has prioritized reforming the agency's space regulations. Under his leadership, Crawford confirmed to PMG that he would seek to revise the FAA's permitting procedures, which Musk has long criticized for hindering SpaceX's rocket launch schedules.
“There’s definitely some changes that need to be made,” Crawford stated, highlighting the FAA's overly stringent and slow processes for approving launches. Other GOP members have expressed concerns that the U.S. risks falling behind China in the space race if the FAA's lengthy regulatory framework remains unchanged.
“For this country to outsource our space program and then try to impede the progress of the very company that we’re relying on seems to be a little bit counterintuitive, so we’re going to attempt to fix that,” Crawford remarked, although he did not specify what "fix" might entail beyond preliminary ideas.
One option lawmakers might consider is excluding the FAA from the regulatory process for launches altogether. In fact, a bill in the House, which has SpaceX's support, proposes allowing the Commerce Department to certify “space objects”—defined as items launched from Earth into space. This bill, however, would not eliminate the FAA's responsibilities.
The FAA issued a statement reaffirming that its primary focus is the safety of the nation’s airspace, which includes ensuring that spacecraft are operating appropriately within it. While Congress has limited the FAA's reign over launch regulations, the agency noted that space enterprises must still adhere to state and federal laws.
Despite the ongoing tensions, the FAA emphasized a commitment to maintaining a “productive working relationship with SpaceX.”
Most of the six current and former FAA officials and industry insiders interviewed for this article believe the FAA will not easily capitulate to Musk's demands, regardless of his public beratement of the agency's leadership.
“He has met an agency that doesn’t just bend, … that has a very clear mission,” remarked one former FAA official, granted anonymity in order to speak candidly about Musk's interactions with the agency over several years. “He is going to need their permission to operate.”
Yet, the FAA has never previously faced a challenger quite like Musk—widely recognized as the world’s wealthiest person and someone closely connected to a president eager to reshape the federal bureaucracy.
One former FAA official mentioned that, in an optimistic scenario, Musk—“who’s obviously very smart”—could facilitate advancements in the space race, potentially enabling technology to progress more rapidly.
“Having these novel perspectives … is never a bad thing,” said this former official, emphasizing the importance of ensuring that safety remains paramount.
Because “what we wouldn’t want to do is wake up and say, ‘What the hell happened there?’” the official added.
A complicated history underpins the FAA's cautious stance. Founded in 1926, the agency has a history of thoroughly analyzing the implications of new technologies in aviation. It took years for the FAA to allow airline passengers to keep electronic devices like iPads and Kindles on during takeoff and it still restricts Amazon's use of drones for parcel delivery outside select testing areas, more than a decade after Jeff Bezos made headlines for unveiling his drone delivery initiative.
Unlike other federal entities that Musk might be accustomed to working with—such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, often criticized for being a lax overseer of automobile manufacturers like Tesla—the FAA operates under strict regulations concerning who is allowed to navigate U.S. airspace. This includes preventing rockets from crashing into residential areas or colliding with passenger aircraft.
“When the FAA makes determinations, they back them up with a lot of detailed analysis,” noted a former FAA administrator, who, along with others quoted in this article, spoke off the record to share candid insights regarding Musk's relationship with the agency. “And if they’re competent in their analysis, they’re not going to back down from that.”
This rigorous process has led to significant friction between Musk and the FAA. Their tense relationship has been evident since at least 2020, stemming from an incident where SpaceX launched a prototype rocket that subsequently exploded on landing, which the FAA stated could have endangered residents near the Boca Chica, Texas launch site.
On December 9, 2020, SpaceX proceeded with the launch despite lacking FAA approval, which was withheld due to adverse weather concerns. Reports at the time indicated that the agency’s weather models indicated a significant risk to nearby residents if the rocket were to explode. SpaceX's crew disregarded these warnings, assuming they were outdated, as indicated by documents obtained by The Verge.
Following the incident, the FAA paused SpaceX's launch license pending an investigation. However, one FAA official familiar with the matter indicated that SpaceX remained undeterred, arguing that the launch was a success and attributing the failure to a “hard landing.” Instead of demonstrating contrition, SpaceX continued to pressure the FAA to expedite its investigation and other pending matters.
Frustrated, then-FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, who was nominated during Trump's first term, called Musk in March 2021 to admonish him, during a conversation described by the FAA official as tense.
“The pressure that SpaceX broadly was applying to the agency was out of line,” the official stated, noting that Dickson was managing the fallout from two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that collectively claimed 346 lives in 2018 and 2019.
“For Dickson, safety dictated timeline—that was on his mind,” the official explained while speaking anonymously.
In the aftermath of the call, the FAA issued an unusual statement asserting that Dickson "made it clear that the FAA expects SpaceX to develop and foster a robust safety culture that stresses adherence to FAA Rules."
In the months that followed, SpaceX continued constructing its Texas facilities. The FAA cautioned that this expansion could “complicate the ongoing environmental review process” concerning Starship. At the time, the FAA reported that SpaceX insisted its construction should not face environmental oversight, to which the FAA countered that the submitted plans implied otherwise.
“To me, it’s an issue of, Musk doesn’t like to ask permission—and he has to have the agency’s permission, not just on [environmental approvals] but also to operate in the airspace,” said the former FAA official.
Although the agency chose not to penalize SpaceX for the incident in 2020, it did impose a fine of $633,009 earlier this year for separate violations where the company diverged from its approved launch plans. In response, Musk threatened legal action against the agency.
Musk's rapidly increasing frequency of space launches takes place not only over the heavily trafficked airspace above Florida, but also in Texas, where Starship launches extend into airspace reaching Mexico.
When Musk expanded operations in Boca Chica, he assumed the FAA would simply “sign off on everything and without any conditions,” according to the former official.
In addition to the FAA’s space branch, the agency’s air traffic division also needs to approve the company’s plans to utilize U.S. airspace. Nonetheless, it should be noted that SpaceX has been a pioneer, becoming one of the first companies to share real-time data with the FAA's air traffic organization, facilitating quicker reopening of airspace.
Whitaker, the current administrator, publicly defended the agency’s motives for SpaceX’s delays in September. The FAA stated that Whitaker and Musk have communicated “on more than one occasion,” though specifics on their most recent interaction were not disclosed.
“What we wouldn’t want to do is have an agency just designed around one entity’s idea of what makes for good … policy,” asserted the second former FAA official. “It could be that Elon’s ideas will be exactly the ideas that the FAA needs to move forward—but there are many users of the airspace.”
The agency must “give it all the due diligence it deserves,” the second official emphasized, “but recognize that we have a very, very complex aerospace system with a myriad of users, and all with a level of input that they want to see.”
Frederick R Cook contributed to this report for TROIB News
