A Penn Yan man is accused of endangering several SpaceX launches by forging inspection reports for critical spacecraft components.
The U.S. Attorney’s office says 41-year-old James Smalley was a quality assurance engineer for PMI Industries in Gates. Smalley allegedly falsified inspection reports for rocket parts that went into SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy launch vehicles. They included flight critical parts like the nosecone fairing that covers the rocket’s payload. Federal prosecutors say a failure there during launch could have caused a catastrophic failure.
The FBI said in a statement that Smalley took the act of forgery “to a new level.”
Smalley allegedly falsified 38 inspection reports on parts made by PMI, which was an machining company making high-tolerance parts for the aerospace industry.