Indians and environmentalists sued the U.S. aviation regulator to protect nature from Musk’s rockets
American environmentalists and Indians sued the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which, according to them, neglected the environment by allowing the company Elon Musk SpaceX to launch its most powerful rocket from the spaceport in Texas.
The Super Heavy rocket exploded April 20, along with the Starship spacecraft, shortly after launching from the Boca Chica spaceport, located, the plaintiffs note, near a habitat of rare turtles, birds and animals, wildlife refuges and public beaches.
“After a massive rocket explosion over South Texas, national and local conservation groups, as well as (the local Indian organization – ed.) Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas, Inc. sued the Federal Aviation Administration for its failure to fully analyze and level out the environmental damage from the Starship/Super Heavy launch program in Boca Chica,” the plaintiffs said in a statement.
The regulator, they said, allowed SpaceX to launch 20 Starship/Super Heavy rockets each year for the next five years. The plaintiffs see environmental hazards in growing traffic, noise and light pollution in the area, falling rocket debris, and an increased risk of fires.
“SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy project substantially limits public access to preserves and parks that are adjacent to the facility,” they added.
The plaintiffs estimate that at least eight explosions have occurred at Boca Chico in the past five years. They claim that the last explosion caused a fire on 27 hectares of protected land, and in July 2019, 60 hectares burned for the same reason.
Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built for space launches. Together with the Super Heavy booster, Starship reaches a length of 120 meters. In comparison, the height of the Saturn V rocket is 111 meters. The first stage of the rocket is equipped with 33 Raptor engines, which together can reach twice the power of the Saturn V or NASA’s newest rocket, the SLS.