The Hill by Mark Whittington 9/12/2021
SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk, face another potential legal challenge to their dream of conquering space. In addition to the lawsuit filed by Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin, a group of environmentalists would like to shut Musk’s business down entirely.
The Blue Origin lawsuit imposes delays in developing SpaceX’s Human Landing System (HLS) because of document storing and sharing problems at the Department of Justice (DOJ). However, the big threat to SpaceX’s operation in Boca Chica, Texas, and the SpaceX Starship’s development comes from the environmental lobby.
SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility is located next to a wildlife preserve, according to the U.K. Guardian. The problem, from the environmentalists’ point of view, is that Musk’s development plan for the Starship involves test vehicles blowing up and raining debris on the preserve. This, according to The Guardian, adversely affects several “vulnerable” species. Frequent road closures and other activities at the site have only added to the environmental cause célèbre.
While the Starship’s atmospheric hops have been approved by government regulators, SpaceX currently awaits approval for the first orbital launch of the Superheavy/Starship stack. The Superheavy stage will lift a Starship into space, with the first stage splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico and the second landing in the Pacific off Hawaii. The test is crucial for regular operations supporting the Artemis return to the moon program and Musk’s dream of eventually settling Mars. Many environmentalists would like to stop SpaceX from conducting any more launches at Boca Chica to protect the wildlife preserve.
More:
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/571858-elon-musks-spacex-vs-the-environmentalists
