Federal regulators have fined SpaceXnearly $150,000 for breaking clean water laws and a fuel spill at its South Texas launch site. 

The Environmental Protection Agency said it reached a “proposed settlement” with the commercial space company for a 2022 liquid oxygen spill and its operation of a water-deluge system under its launch pad without the proper permit on at least seven occasions since July 2023. 

The EPA’s action this week, which comes as the company awaits permission to launch its next Starship, is the latest in agrowing list of environmental violations the company said Tuesday are hindering its business. 

SpaceX said this week it expects to receive a launch license for Starship’s fifth flight by late November but criticized the approval process as being “repeatedly derailed by issues ranging from the frivolous to the patently absurd.” The issues it cited included delays stemming from questions raised by its environmental violations.

The FAA has been reviewing the company’s request to return the Super Heavy booster to land at its Starbase launch tower, a complex and risky maneuver that hasn’t been attempted before.

On Wednesday, the agency said SpaceX submitted new information in mid-August “detailing how the environmental impact of Flight 5 will cover a larger area than previously reviewed,” a development the FAA said requires additional consultation with other agencies. 

RELATED:SpaceX fined $3,750 for breaking clean water laws in South Texas, but slowdown is bigger penalty

“SpaceX must meet all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements prior to FAA launch authorization,” the FAA said, confirming that a final license determination for the flight is not expected before late November.

The company continues to deny it broke environmental laws even as it agreed to the settlement with the EPA. It alsoagreed in August to one with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality over the same issues related to installing and operating the deluge system without the necessary permit. It was installed when the launch tower was rebuilt after being destroyed during Starship’s first launch in April 2023.

No permit

According to the EPA, SpaceX did not have the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit needed to operate its deluge system, which sprays thousands of gallons of fresh water during Starship engine tests and launches to dampen the force, noise and heat produced by its engines. 

The agency sent SpaceX a letter on Aug. 25, 2023, requesting information about the system and its operation. On March 13, it issued an administrative order saying the company must comply with federal regulations. The order required SpaceX to “take measures necessary to eliminate unpermitted discharges or submit a permit application.”

Despite the warning, SpaceX operated the deluge system the next day during Starship’s third test flight.

In all, the company operated the deluge system seven times between July 28, 2023, and June 6, spraying between 114,000 gallons and 194,500 gallons of fresh water each time, according to the EPA’s complaint. 

The state environmental commission has described the water that runs off as industrial wastewater. Some of it is captured in retention ponds or vaporized by the heat and combustion, but each use of the deluge system discharged between 34,200 gallons and 45,300 gallons directly into the wetlands surrounding the launch site, according to the EPA. 

In addition to using the deluge system, the EPA also cited a July 11, 2022, spill of 36,000 gallons of liquid oxygen, which is used to fuel Starship. It fined SpaceX $148,378 for the violations.

SpaceX has since applied for the discharge permit. But the TCEQ says the approval process could take “at least 330 days” — or nearly a year — from the date of application, which was July 1.

RELATED:FAA postpones public meetings about SpaceX’s proposal for more Starship launches from South Texas

Denials

During a recent conference, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk defended the company's actions.

“We didn’t know there was a permit needed for zero harm freshwater being on the ground in a place where fresh water falls from the sky all the time,” he said.   

In its statement posted Tuesday, the company said “at no time did SpaceX operate the deflector without a permit,” saying it was “operating in good faith under supervision of” the TCEQ with a Stormwater Multi-Sector General Permit. 

However, as the name suggests, such a permit covers stormwater runoff at industrial facilities — not the runoff from use of the deluge system during a rocket launch, which is considered “industrial wastewater” because it’s been exposed to physical and chemical processes. 

SpaceX also says the EPA issued its March administrative order “before seeking a basic understanding of the facts” of the deluge system. 

READ MORE:SpaceX’s South Texas rocket operation facing international scrutiny

SpaceX said the TCEQ and EPA fines are “entirely tied to disagreements over paperwork,” and that it chose to settle despite “fundamentally disagreeing” with the allegations. 

The EPA’s draft settlement with SpaceX is open for public commentthrough Oct. 21.  

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