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This week , Elon Musk identified a new restraint for his Mars - bound ambitions . It was n’t the -85 ° F surface temperature , or the 140 million miles he ’ll need to travel . Rather , it ’s something far more pedestrian : “ The fundamental problem is that humanity will evermore be confined to Earth unless there is radical reform at the FAA,”he posted on X.
That billet followeda previous onein which he vowed to action the government agency , reason in a serial of decade posts that the FAA was politically motivated when itlevied $ 633,009 in fines against SpaceXon Tuesday . One fine was for allegedly using an unapproved rocket engine propellant farm in a launching last twelvemonth ; the other was for using an unauthorized launch command elbow room . SpaceX say in a letter to Congress Thursday it“forcefully rejects”the notion that the society did n’t surveil FAA launch procedure .
“ The FAA space division is harassing SpaceX about nonsensicality that does n’t move safety,”Musk posted , tot , “ I am highly positive that discovery will show improper , politically - motivated deportment by the FAA . ”
But Billy Nolen , the former act decision maker of the FAA in 2023 , pushed back against Musk ’s assertion that the FAA was unfairly point SpaceX because , as Musk implied , the billionaire ’s selection of political prospect to underpin .
As an representation , the FAA “ is about as apolitical as it gets , ” he told TechCrunch .
Nolen , who is now the master regulative matter officer of aircraft company Archer Aviation , pointed out that FAA heads purposefully have five - class term terminal point . That mean presidential administrations do n’t mechanically get to appoint a new FAA leader each fourth dimension a new political party is sworn in . “ We do n’t run on behalf of Republicans or Democrats , ” he aver .
Musk ’s substantive complaint was about the unceasing slowness of the agency . “ It really should not be possible to work up a giant rocket engine faster than the paper can move from one desk to another , ” Musksaid at theAll - In Summit on September 10 .
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That was an argument that Nolen could empathize with . The FAA , he said , is burden with an enormous mandate , yet “ there ’s never enough money . ”
The some $ 24 billion budget he was given during his time at the federal agency may seem like a bunch of money . But , he said , about $ 19 billion was commit to salaries and operations and about $ 4 billion went to upkeep on an increasingly aging base .
“ The agency still has a lot of legacy systems , ” he said , pointing out that the FAA itself maintain over 200 air traffic ascendancy pillar . “ Some towers are still using paper strips , ” he said , refer to how some tower are still tracking trajectory on newspaper .
Nolen said that the agency often does n’t have the budget for novel technology that could help it better govern a rapidly grow space industry . “ The FAA has to be funded to the level of what our outlook are of accept a globe - class , best - in - class system , ” he say .
Now that Nolen is at Archer , a ship’s company bring on new galvanising vertical takeoff and landing ( eVTOL ) aircraft — one of the kip that run to nark against FAA bureaucratism — he ’s thought a lot about what agency changes could help new technology . Within his lifetime , he wants the FAA to become “ 100 % fully predictive ” using artificial news , he said .
Think of the sheer amount of information soaring through the sky every second : A single Boeing 787 flight generate a one-half terabyte of information , concord to a 2017 audience with a Boeing engineer . Imagine , Nolen said , “ the ability to pull all of that together , synthesize it and say , is there anything in that data that give us pause ? ”
He emphasized that it would help the agency move quicker and speed up commendation for thing like , say , SpaceX launch .
But Nolen also target out that the FAA trust heavily on expert , turn to engineers , founders , and academic to guide its insurance policy , and Musk ’s anti - FAA empty talk is damaging . Nolen say it ’s all-important for someone like Musk , who is “ one of the capital creative judgement we have , ” to cooperate and help the FAA infer what newfangled age space companies need .
“ We do n’t ever require to be in a place where there ’s one set of rules , but if you ’ve set out enough money , they do n’t really apply to you , ” he say .
