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Under the Obama and Biden administrations SpaceX faced onerous approvals; the FAA…

2026-08-05 · 05:08 UTC ·@cremieuxrecueil ·1 min read

Brief

Elon Musk says that under the Obama and Biden administrations SpaceX faced onerous approvals: the FAA under Obama reportedly made SpaceX write a 'book report' on local Mexican–American War activity, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife required SpaceX to 'kidnap' seals, strap them to boards, fit headphones, and play sonic-boom sounds during Vandenberg launch tests (performed twice); regulators also raised shark and whale impact worries (post, 2026-08-05).

Why it matters

Under the Obama and Biden administrations SpaceX faced onerous approvals; the FAA under Obama allegedly required SpaceX to write a 'book report' on local activity in the Mexican–American War (claim from 2026-08-05 post).

Key details

  • Elon Musk said U.S. Fish and Wildlife forced SpaceX to 'kidnap' a seal, strap it to a board, fit headphones, and play sonic-boom sounds to test distress for Vandenberg launches — Musk says the seal test was performed twice.
  • Musk said regulators also feared rockets hitting sharks and whales: Fish and Wildlife refused to share shark-impact data (citing concern about shark hunters), and a second agency raised whale-impact concerns; Musk noted local seal populations have risen.
Source evidence

Under Biden and Obama, SpaceX got no reprieve. They had to do absurd nonsense all the time in order to do anything.

Under Obama, the FAA made SpaceX write a book report on local activity in the Mexican-American War.

Naruto (@NarutoNolimits)

Elon Musk reveals what happens when a rocket launch needs approval from Fish and Wildlife

Elon: "Nonetheless, 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."

Elon: "This is an actual thing that happened. This is actually real. I have pictures."

Before the seal, there was a shark.

Elon: "One of the things that was a bit of a challenge at one point is that they were worried about our rocket hitting a shark."

He asked for the data to calculate the odds. They refused, in case shark hunters got hold of it.

Elon: "Then they said, well, there's another part of Fish and Wildlife that can do this analysis. I'm like, well, why don't you give them the data? They don't, we don't trust them. Like, excuse me, but they're literally in your department."

Then a second agency raised whales.

Elon: "If our rocket does hit a whale, which is extremely unlikely beyond all belief, that whale has some seriously bad luck. It's the least lucky whale ever."

The seal test was for launches out of Vandenberg, where the seal population has been rising for years.

Elon: "So if anything, rocket booms are an aphrodisiac based on the evidence."

Elon: "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 gonna eat me."

Elon: "Its seal buddies are never gonna believe him that he got strapped to a board and they put headphones on his ears."

They did it twice.

Elon: "I don't think the public is quite aware of the madness that goes on."

Video

— https://nitter.net/NarutoNolimits/status/2084355472723968245#m