Enter the FBI

We must always cease and respect the crucible that SpaceX engineers and technicians endured within the fall of 2016. They had been concurrently making an attempt to tease out the physics of a fiendishly advanced failure; show to NASA their exploding rocket was secure; persuade security officers that regardless that that they had simply blown up their rocket by fueling it too shortly, load-and-go was possible for astronaut missions; improve the cadence of Falcon 9 missions to catch and surpass ULA; and, oh sure, gently clarify to the boss {that a} sniper had not shot their rocket.

So there needed to be some reduction when, on October 13, Hughes obtained that letter from Dr. Michael C. Romanowski, director of Industrial House Integration on the FAA.

In response to this letter (see a copy here), three weeks after the launch pad explosion, SpaceX submitted “video and audio” together with its evaluation of the failure to the FAA. “SpaceX urged that within the firm’s view, this info and knowledge may very well be indicative of sabotage or prison exercise related to the on-pad explosion of SpaceX’s Falcon 9,” the letter states.

That is notable as a result of it means that Musk directed SpaceX to raise the “sniper” principle to the purpose that the FAA ought to take it significantly. However there was extra. In response to the letter, SpaceX reported the identical knowledge and evaluation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Florida.

After this, the Tampa Discipline Workplace of the FBI and its Prison Investigative Division in Washington, DC, regarded into the matter. And what did they discover? Nothing, apparently.

“The FBI has knowledgeable us that primarily based upon an intensive and coordinated overview by the suitable Federal prison and safety investigative authorities, there have been no indications to recommend that sabotage or every other prison exercise performed a job within the September 1 Falcon 9 explosion,” Romanowski wrote. “Because of this, the FAA considers this matter closed.”

The failure of the Amos-6 mission would develop into a low level for SpaceX. For a couple of weeks, there have been non-trivial questions in regards to the firm’s monetary viability. However quickly, SpaceX would come roaring again. In 2017, the Falcon 9 rocket launched a report 18 instances, surpassing ULA for the primary time. The hole would solely widen. Final 12 months, SpaceX launched 137 rockets to ULA’s 5.

With Amos-6, subsequently, SpaceX misplaced the battle. However it will finally win the conflict—with out anybody firing a shot.