Washington Examiner by Mark Whittington October 24, 2023
Recently, the Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science held a hearing about human commercial space flights . During the hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Bill Gerstenmaier, formerly at NASA and now vice president of build and flight reliability for SpaceX, had an exchange concerning the regulatory delays that are holding up the second test launch of the Starship. Starship is the massive rocket ship SpaceX is developing that promises to revolutionize spaceflight, take people back to the lunar surface, and fulfill CEO Elon Musk’s dream of establishing a city on Mars.
The two men discussed how government regulators, specifically the Fish and Wildlife Service, are holding up the next flight test of the Starship. By so doing, the FWS is holding up America’s return of astronauts to the lunar surface. Cruz wondered what the FWS has to do with launching rockets. Gerstenmaier responded by suggesting the pace of the Starship test campaign should be set by SpaceX and not by government regulators.
Gerstenmaier indicated to Cruz that SpaceX is ready to fly again immediately. Both he and Cruz chafed at the idea that government paperwork is standing in the way of building the mightiest, largest rocket ship ever conceived. Gerstenmaier took pains to add that SpaceX wants to follow environmental regulations and minimize any damage its operations cause to wildlife.
The FWS has as long as 135 days to complete its review. However, SpaceX has urged that the FAA double its space launch licensing staff to speed the review process, though the company acknowledged it believes the FAA is making a good faith effort with the resources it has available.
Still, regulatory reform is clearly necessary to quicken the pace of commercial space development and the Artemis return to the moon program. Cruz seems to be just the man to undertake that task.
More:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom-self-reliance/ted-cruz-comes-to-defense-of-spacex-against-regulators
