--- title: "The FAA Said SpaceX Couldn’t Launch Starship, But It Fueled Up Anyway" description: "The FAA said that SpaceX was not cleared to test its Starship spacecraft today, but the company has gone ahead and fueled it up." date: "2021-01-28" modified: "2021-01-28" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/faa-spacex-starship-fueled-anyway" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # The FAA Said SpaceX Couldn’t Launch Starship, But It Fueled Up Anyway ![The FAA said that SpaceX was not cleared to test its Starship spacecraft today, but the company has gone ahead and fueled it up.]() *\Image: NASA Spaceflight / Screenshot via YouTube\* ## Story so Far SpaceX [had been scheduled]() to test the latest iteration of its Starship rocket today. Then the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it had scrubbed the launch — prompting a [furious response]() from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. But instead of standing down, SpaceX went ahead and continued fueling up the spacecraft. In fact, at press time, SpaceX had completed the fueling process and moved on to the final pre-launch step of chilling the engine. ## Final Countdown Defying the FAA would presumably put SpaceX in extraordinary legal jeopardy — although, at the same time, Musk does have a history of [standing up to powerful government entities](). In light of that, it's unclear whether SpaceX is now treating the exercise as a dress rehearsal for a launch, or if it's still negotiating with the FAA to reschedule the launch, or if it's modified the day's plans to do a static test fire instead of the planned high-altitude flight. For its part, the [FAA issued a statement]() reading that it will "continue working with SpaceX to resolve outstanding safety issues before we approve the next test flight." ## Peer Pressure Let's be clear. It seems flabbergastingly unlikely that SpaceX would launch the rocket without FAA approval. After all, the agency let SpaceX fly its previous Starship prototype last month, though [that one had a rough landing](). In fact, *NASASpaceFlight* is [now reporting]() that the launch attempt has been aborted — though they're leaving open the possibility that, with FAA approval, the launch could still go off this afternoon. Online, though, SpaceX fans are egging the company on to go ahead with the launch regardless. "Do it anyway, the skies don’t belong to the feds," one said. *Editor's note 1/28/2021: This post has been updated with additional details and context.* **More on Starship:** [*SpaceX Starship Explodes in Spectacular Fireball*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()