this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2024
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Blowing up rockets over protected swamplands and failing at things NASA learned decades ago isn’t enough for you?
Somehow Ive missed hearing about either of these
I first heard a full breakdown of the environmental regulatory aspects of SpaceX's operations in Tech Wont Save Us ep. 186 from September of last year. Definitely worth the listen (every episode of that show is worth the listen, in fact).
The launch site is bordered entirely by wildlife refuges and state parklands. The reason they blew up that rocket a while ago on 4/20 was because they didn’t want to get approval to dig a flame trench due to tight environmental restrictions in the area. Trenches that NASA realized were necessary over 50 years ago.
Here’s some articles if you don’t want to take my word for it:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/05/texas-spacex-elon-musk-environment-wildlife
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_deflector
Protected swamplands??
The Boca Chica test site in Texas is built immediately adjacent to a protected wildlife preserve. This is the site where SpaceX has been working on the Starship launch vehicle.
The second part about failing is extreme hyperbole. SpaceX is the most successful launch company in human history by any reasonable metric. I’d argue Musks distance from the company in recent years has helped.
That seems like a failure of the government to allow them to operate there.