Enter the FBI
We must stop the melting pot and appreciate that SpaceXing engineers and technicians have endured in the fall of 2016. At the same time, they tried to tease the physics of a devil's complex failure; prove to NASA that their exploding rocket was safe; Convince safety officials that, although they had just blown up their rocket by feeding it too quickly, load-and-go feasible for astronaut missions; Increase the cadence of Falcon 9 missions to catch and surpass ULA; And, oh yes, carefully explain the boss that a sniper had not shot their rocket.
So there had to be some relief when Hughes received that letter from Dr. on 13 October. Michael C. Romanowski, director of commercial space -integration at the FAA.
According to this letter (see a copy here), three weeks after the explosion of the launch path, SpaceX “Video and Audio” submitted together with the analysis of the failure of the FAA. “SpaceX suggested that according to the company this information and data can be an indication of sabotage or criminal activities related to the explosion on the road of SpaceX's Falcon 9,” the letter says.
This is remarkable because it suggests that Musk SpaceX has instructed to elevate the “sniper” theory to the point that the FAA should take it seriously. But there was more. According to the letter, SpaceX reported the same data and analysis to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Florida.
After this, the Tampa Field Office of the FBI and its criminal research division in Washington, DC the case investigated. And what have they found? Nothing, apparently.
“The FBI has informed us that on the basis of a thorough and coordinated assessment by the correct federal criminal and security research authorities were no indications to suggest that sabotage or other criminal activities played a role in the explosion of Falcon 9 on 1 September,” wrote Romanowski. “As a result, the FAA regards this issue closed.”
The failure of the AMOS-6 mission would prove to be a low point for SpaceX. For a few weeks there were non-trivial questions about the financial viability of the company. But soon SpaceX would come back. In 2017, the Falcon 9 Rocket launched a record 18 times and Ula surpassed for the first time. The gap would only get bigger. Last year, SpaceX launched 137 rockets to Ula's Five.
With Amos-6, SpaceX therefore lost the fight. But it would eventually win the war – without anyone firing a shot.
