[GreenHornet]

The interagency approval process "took some time, not because anybody was against or averse to this," he said. "It's just that we asked questions that had never been asked before, and that had to be addressed and worked out."

What if they just went ahead and made the trip without asking?

[SJSAMPLE]

They could do it if they launched it from another country or from international waters. But that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be repercussions here in the US when they got back.