Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has threatened SpaceX with legal action. The subject of the investigation is debris and pollution from launches of the super-heavy Starship spacecraft.
Last week, Starship exploded during static fire tests. The enormous fireball that the spacecraft turned into became another obstacle to Elon Musk’s dream of sending humans to Mars. Now SpaceX faces a new problem in the form of potential litigation with Mexico.
At a press conference held on June 25, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Mexican authorities were conducting a “comprehensive assessment” of the environmental impact of rocket launches on the state of Tamaulipas, which borders the city of Boca Chica. Starbase is located there: SpaceX’s spaceport, from where Starship launches are carried out.
“The Mexican government is investigating which international laws have been violated in order to file the “necessary lawsuits” because “pollution is indeed taking place.”
SpaceX has already responded to Sheinbaum’s comments by posting the following statement on social media platform X:
As previously stated, there are no hazards to the surrounding area. Previous independent tests conducted on materials inside Starship, including toxicity analyses, confirm they pose no chemical, biological, or toxicological risks.
And as is the case before any test, a safety zone was established around the test site and was maintained throughout the operation.
Despite SpaceX’s attempts to recover the anomaly related debris, which is and remains the tangible property of SpaceX, these attempts have been hindered by unauthorized parties trespassing on private property.
We have requested local and federal assistance from the government of Mexico in the recovery of anomaly related debris, offered resources and assistance in the clean-up, and have sought validation of SpaceX’s right to conduct recovery operations.
SpaceX looks forward to working with the Mexican Government and local authorities for the return of the debris as soon as possible.
It should be recalled that in early May, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved an increase in the number of annual Starship rocket launches from 5 to 25, stating that the increase in launch frequency would not have a negative impact on the environment. Thus, the FAA rejected protests from environmental organizations, which warned that the expansion could endanger sea turtles and coastal birds.
According to Phys.org
