(TNS) — Calling regulators’ recent actions against the company “nonsense,” SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell updated lawmakers Tuesday on the company’s progress and urged them to continue their support.
As part of a panel of members from the Texas Space Commission , Shotwell told the House Appropriations Committee that SpaceX hasn’t had “specific issues” with Texas regulators but has with federal entities.
“We work very closely with organizations such as the ( Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ),” she said. “You may have read a little bit of nonsense in the papers recently about that, but we’re working quite well with them.”
Shotwell said she’s worried government red tape is impeding progress as the company works to resume launches of its Starship mega-rocket from South Texas , grow its Bastrop -area Starlink satellite internet business and refine engine testing operations at its McGregor test site.
TCEQ recently fined SpaceX for operating a launch pad deluge system after skipping the required permitting process, an infraction that has contributed to a slowdown in federal licensing for the next launch and stalled talks on the company’s plans to launch and land the craft up to 25 times a year at Starbase.
Along with fines from federal regulators for violations of clean water laws at its South Texas Starbase and safety violations in launches from Florida , SpaceX has been hit with $785,000 in fines over recent weeks.
At Starbase, it’s been fined by state and federal regulators for the company’s deluge system, which sprays more than 100,000 gallons of water to dampen the force, heat and noise of Starship’s engines during a launch.
On Tuesday, Shotwell maintained that the the system — which she said resembles “an upside down shower head” — was “licensed and permitted by TCEQ … EPA came in afterwards and didn’t like the license or the permit that we had for that and wanted to turn it into a federal permit, which we are working on right now.”
However, TCEQ fined the company for operating the system without the proper permit and has not confirmed giving SpaceX permission for it.
The state agency has said the company received a stormwater permit — a type that’s usually quickly approved — but did not have the permit required for discharge of industrial wastewater produced by launches. That type of permit requires significant technical review and usually takes almost a year to approve.
SpaceX applied for that permit July 1 , after operating the deluge system several times since its installation last year.
Shotwell said SpaceX has a list of recommendations it says would “enhance regulatory efficiency so that regulation does not hold back technology and innovation.” She declined to share the list in Tuesday’s hearing.
“This is not an issue for our competitors overseas,” she said. “It is an issue in the United States , less so in Texas , but again this is just kind of a recommendation.”
Shotwell said SpaceX now has invested more than $3 billion at its South Texas Starbase, with about a billion of that in the past year. It’s expected to grow as Starbase expands and adds functions.
It’s also investing in Bastrop , outside Austin , where SpaceX’s Starlink communications satellite business continues to grow. Right now, she said, 100,000 Texans are using Starlink for internet service.
“It’s my understanding that there are still 800,000 yet to be connected, and we certainly look forward to expanding the capabilities to be able to do so,” she said. “We’re also supporting the Texas Military Department , Emergency Management Department and many other Texas State agencies with Starlink.”
The satellite company eclipsed its parent company’s space launch revenue last year, and Shotwell said it hopes to use “federal and state investment dollars to help serve all Texans” by helping them get online.
In McGregor , where SpaceX test fires rocket engines about seven times a day, Shotwell said the company has invested more than $200 million in the past few years.
It took over the former bomb making plant and rocket testing site in 2003.
She also asked lawmakers for more state funding and infrastructure investments to continue SpaceX growth.
“We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure — roads, sewers, water, etc. — and it would be extraordinary to receive some additional support from the state of Texas as we continue to build out these facilities,” she said.
© 2024 the San Antonio Express-News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.