Last year, following an explosive mishap during Starship testing, SpaceX insisted that it had found “no evidence of any floating or deceased marine life that would signal (rocket) booster debris impact harmed animals in the vicinity” of the crash site in the waters off the Gulf Coast.
The company has also separately said that Starship launches present “no hazards to the surrounding communities in the Rio Grande Valley.”
Not everyone is convinced. Some residents and environmentalists have bemoaned frequent beach closures triggered by Starship testing and the noise and debris associated with Starship’s failures.
In addition to sonic booms, which can register as small earthquakes, activists are concerned about migratory birds that have long relied on the area, including the snowy plover, a species that has rapidly declined, according to environmentalists.
And an NGO in Mexico says it has documented melted plastics, aluminum and pieces of blue adhesive strewn across the sands of Tamaulipas’ Bagdad beach, spurring concerns about threats to wildlife such as Kemp’s ridley turtles, an endangered species.
That same group, called Conibio Global, has staged several protests of Starship launches using boats positioned in Gulf waters near SpaceX’s launch site that have included tense standoffs. The group is carrying out another demonstration tonight, Conibio confirmed to CNN.
It was also a US environmental group, SaveRGV, that sued over access to local beaches that have been frequently cut off from the public due to launches and rocket testing. The Texas Supreme Court, however, recently handed SpaceX a big win on that front.
