SpaceX continues to come under fire from environmentalists who say the company’s actions are putting South Texas wildlife and the environment at risk.
The aerospace company has conducted several launches of its Starship in Boca Chica, Texas. April 2023 marked the first near-orbital test of the spacecraft, which is being called the most powerful rocket ever built.
However, the rocket exploded — apparently a planned occurrence — kicking up a cloud of debris that settled on a town six miles away and causing forces similar to an earthquake.
“It was truly terrifying,” one local resident told The New York Times.
The rocket’s engines also tore up part of the concrete launch pad, and chunks of concrete from the pad flew through the air, damaging a parked car in a nearby town.
Starship’s November 2023 launch resulted in a similar explosion that sent debris through the area, as reported by My San Antonio.
These explosions also affected the local environment, as the beach and surrounding tidal flats near the launch pad were hit with giant concrete boulders and other debris. Multiple brush fires ensued — about 150 acres burned in the first fire, while 11 acres of “sensitive sand dunes” were damaged in the second, per MySA.
The Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, a local environmental group, told MySA that the area is an important habitat for rare, threatened, and endangered species like the ocelot, aplomado falcon, piping plover, red knot, snowy plover, and black rail. It is also an important site for spring and fall bird migrations. And the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle nests only a quarter of a mile from the launch site, MySA reported.
Though the total impact on wildlife is unknown, the April explosion “incinerated” a group of blue land crabs and seven bobwhite quail eggs within a local state park. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists were left in disbelief over the environmental damage that the launch caused.
SpaceX also has received backlash for its plans to dispose of contaminated water that degrades wetlands. The company recently asked to dump more than 200,000 gallons of wastewater into the South Bay, and more than 1,100 people submitted comments in opposition to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, according to MySA.
Jim Chapman, president of FOWC, told the outlet that though the local environment might not look like much, “It is an extremely important area for lots of shorebirds and is a critical habitat for many endangered animals. There aren’t a lot of places like that; it is a unique area.”
Meanwhile, SpaceX founder and owner Elon Musk (@elonmusk) took to Twitter, formerly known as X, in April 2023 to say: “Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for [the] next test launch in a few months.”
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Dr. Sarah Adams is a scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to all. Her articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
