On Saturday night, the Life Center Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was packed with people wearing red caps and waving American flags. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took the stage at an event for America PAC, the pro-Trump committee to which he has donated tens of millions of dollars. Then, almost as if it were a stand-up comedy monologue, Musk humorously recounted some of the absurd measures SpaceX had to take to persuade environmental agencies to greenlight Starship’s launch.
This comedic tone was intentional. In November 2023, Musk said on Lex Fridman’s podcast that he wanted to transform the company’s story into a comedy sketch with the tagline “This is all real.” He has finally done so, but without the tagline and as part of a political rally supporting former president Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.
SpaceX vs. Sharks, Whales, and Seals
The story goes like this: After Starship’s first launch, SpaceX began lobbying the U.S. government to speed up the processing of flight licenses. The company had been in a protracted struggle with multiple regulatory agencies over thorough investigations following the rocket’s inaugural flight, which had resulted in a minor environmental incident. Additionally, there were discussions regarding the installation of a flame deflector that sprays jets of drinking water during the second flight.
To highlight the extent of this scrutiny, Musk shared on Saturday two of the more unusual requests regulators made to SpaceX. According to the tech billionaire, the National Marine Fisheries Service, also known as NOAA Fisheries, was concerned that Starship might hit a shark upon landing in the ocean. The agency asked SpaceX to calculate the probability of a similar event occurring.
In response to this request, SpaceX asked the agency for the number of sharks in the potential landing areas. However, Musk pointed out that the NOAA Fisheries declined to provide the information, fearing the data could be leaked to shark hunters. When SpaceX inquired why the agency’s Western division couldn’t perform the calculations themselves, the officers replied, “We don’t trust them,” according to Musk.
Somehow, SpaceX managed to convince the authorities to release the data, and the company’s engineers performed the necessary calculations. They concluded that the probability of a rocket hitting a shark was virtually zero. When Musk shared this finding, he claims that NOAA Fisheries responded, “What about whales?”
The answer was essentially the same: a virtually 0% chance. “If a ship did hit a whale, honestly, that whale had it coming. The odds are so low,” Musk said. He then proceeded to share an even wackier story.
According to the SpaceX CEO, the California government was concerned that Falcon 9 launches and landings could stress seal populations near Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara. To investigate this, authorities asked SpaceX to “kidnap a seal, strap it to a board, put headphones on the seal, and play sonic boom sounds to it,” in reference to the noise created by rockets traveling at supersonic speeds.
In Musk’s words:
“We were forced to kidnap a seal, strap it to a board, put headphones on the seal, and play sonic boom sounds to it to see if it would be distressed. This is an actual thing that happened. This is actually real. I have pictures. It’s a seal with headphones strapped to a board.
Now, the amazing part is how calm the seal was. Because if I was a seal, I’d be like, ‘This is the end. They're definitely going to eat me.’ When the seal goes back to other seal friends, how’s he going to explain that? Never going to believe him. That’s why I’m like, well, it’s like getting kidnapped by aliens and getting an anal probe. You come back and say, ‘I swear to God, I got kidnapped by aliens, they stuck an anal probe in my butt. And people are like, no, that’s ridiculous.’ His seal buddies are never going to believe him that he gets strapped to a board, and they put headphones on his ears and then let him go.”
Musk also mentioned that SpaceX had to perform two separate tests with different seals at the request of regulators. The company concluded that not only were the seals not stressed, but the seal populations around Vandenberg had reportedly steadily increased alongside the rise in launches. “If anything, rocket booms are an aphrodisiac,” Musk said wryly.
Why Is Musk Sharing This Now?
In the past, Musk has expressed frustration with the large number of regulatory agencies he considers “unnecessary.” In fact, he believes all the paperwork is hindering the progress of Tesla and SpaceX. He recently donated $75 million to Trump’s campaign through the America PAC to address this issue.
Musk would benefit significantly if Trump defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the presidential election. His primary focus is on deregulating the automotive and aerospace industries. However, this situation presents a paradox, as one of Trump’s promises is to limit electric vehicles in order to protect the combustion engine industry. In any case, the former president has shown support for Musk’s interests.
Trump has stated that if he wins the election, Musk will lead a “government efficiency commission.” The SpaceX CEO sees this as an opportunity to eliminate or reduce government agencies that he believes “slowly strangle” U.S. businesses through excessive regulation, a sentiment he has expressed on Twitter multiple times.
Musk argues that if Trump doesn’t win, excessive regulation will hinder humanity’s progress toward reaching Mars. He suggests that to achieve the necessary advancements, the government must grant SpaceX more freedom in developing Starship. According to Musk, this can only happen through deregulating sectors important to him.
Image | Pascal Mauerhofer
Related | SpaceX Is Replacing Boeing: NASA Cancels Starliner Spacecraft Flight Contracted for 2025
View 0 comments