Back then I doubt even Musk thought he was going to become CEO of USofA. If he had known that, I doubt he'd ever have been concerned about having any restrictions from any gov't agency. Now, he's pretty much bulldozed a clear path for SpaceX doing whatever it wants. That definitely makes the need for an expensive ocean platform totally unnecessary.

They're trying to make their little slice of land into an actual city. Next stop, carve out that land to become a separate state. Then he can just become governor since he can't be president without having a co- prefix.