An Engineer Allegedly Falsified Inspection Reports For SpaceX Rockets

Federal investigators believe a quality assurance engineer responsible for inspecting parts for SpaceX had been falsifying reports. The engineer works for New York-based PMI Industries and is accused of forging signatures on at least 38 inspection reports for parts intended for use in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Authorities also found at least 76 parts that were rejected or not inspected but shipped to SpaceX anyway.

The forgeries were eventually identified by SpaceX subcontractor SQA Services during an internal audit performed at SpaceX’s request in January 2018. The inspection turned up the falsified and unexpected parts, some of which were intended to be used in the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission that was set to launch just months later. In total, seven NASA missions, two Air Force missions and one National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration mission were affected by the PMI inspected parts purchased by SpaceX.