Elon Musk Breaks Silence On Boeing’s Crewed Mission & Starship Flight 5 Delay

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk has shared his opinion on why Boeing Starliner's crewed flight test ended up being a partial success as the ship returned to Earth without its crew members earlier this month. Musk made the remarks at a podcast yesterday, where he added that SpaceX is ready to fly the Starship rocket's full stack for the fifth time in Texas as soon as it receives the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) approval.

His Boeing comments are the first time Musk, known for his unabashed takes, has shared his opinion on SpaceX's older competitor after Starliner's dramatic return to Earth.

Related Story Boeing’s NASA Astronauts Not Stuck In Space Even As Starliner Starts Return Journey

Boeing's Operations Are Similar To The Government's Due To Long Standing Partnerships, Believes Musk

During his talk, Musk started by bemoaning the slow regulatory approval process for his Starship rocket. Starship, which is 397 feet tall when fully stacked, is the world's largest in development rocket. It is a super heavy lift launch vehicle through which SpaceX aims to conduct missions to the Moon and eventually Mars.

Musk outlined that "Starship is, the next of Starship is ready to fly. We are waiting for regulatory approval, you know." Quipping at the slow regulatory process for Starship flight five, he added, "it really should not be possible to build a giant rocket faster than paper can move from one desk to another."

With SpaceX rapidly launching rockets and others conducting sub orbital human spaceflight missions, the FAA has had to scale up its operations, too. The agency was swift in granting SpaceX permission to return to flight last month with the Falcon 9, after the rocket's first stage booster tipped over on SpaceX's drone ship. Previous Starship launch approvals have also seen SpaceX fans publicly criticize the FAA. SpaceX's plans