A New York Times investigation found that Elon Musk exploited federal agencies’ competing missions to achieve his goals for space travel.
Starship, the upper stage of SpaceX’s new rocket, at its launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas. Conservationists are concerned with the environmental impact space operations have on the area.Skip to contentSkip to site indexWildlife Protections Take a Back Seat to SpaceX’s Ambitions
A New York Times investigation found that Elon Musk exploited federal agencies’ competing missions to achieve his goals for space travel.
As Elon Musk’s Starship — the largest rocket ever manufactured — successfully blasted toward the sky last month, the launch was hailed as a giant leap for SpaceX and the United States’ civilian space program.
Two hours later, once conditions were deemed safe, a team from SpaceX, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a conservation group began canvassing the fragile migratory bird habitat surrounding the launch site.
The impact was obvious.
The launch had unleashed an enormous burst of mud, stones and fiery debris across the public lands encircling Mr. Musk’s $3 billion space compound. Chunks of sheet metal and insulation were strewn across the sand flats on one side of a state park. Elsewhere, a small fire had ignited, leaving a charred patch of park grasslands — remnants from the blastoff that burned 7.5 million pounds of fuel.
Most disturbing to one member of the entourage was the yellow smear on the soil in the same spot that a bird’s nest lay the day before. None of the nine nests recorded by the nonprofit Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program before the launch had survived intact.
Egg yolk now stained the ground.
“The nests have all been messed up or have eggs missing,” Justin LeClaire, a Coastal Bend wildlife biologist, told a Fish and Wildlife inspector as a New York Times reporter observed nearby.
The outcome was part of a well-documented pattern.
On at least 19 occasions since 2019, SpaceX operations have caused fires, leaks, explosions or other problems associated with the rapid growth of Mr. Musk’s complex in Boca Chica. These incidents have caused environmental damage and reflect a broader debate over how to balance technological and economic progress against protections of delicate ecosystems and local communities.
Land owned by State or federal agencies SpaceX
½ mile
Gulf of
Mexico
TEXAS
Launch area
Boca
Chica
Boca
Chica
Beach
Boca
Chica
Village
Starbase
Burned areas
from previous
launches
April 2023
debris field
2000 ft.
Gulf of
Mexico
TEXAS
Boca
Chica
Boca
Chica
Beach
Launch
area
Boca
Chica
Village
Burned areas
from previous
launches
April 2023
debris field
Starbase
Sources: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (land ownership); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, F.A.A. and SpaceX (damage areas)
By Scott Reinhard
Kennedy Space Center
and Cape Canaveral
Space Force Station
159,800 acres
Starbase
350 acres
Vandenberg
Space Force Base
99,604 acres
Kennedy Space
Center and
Cape Canaveral
Space Force Station
159,800 acres
Starbase
350 acres
Vandenberg
Space Force Base
99,604 acres
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral data); NASA (Kennedy Space Center data); Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (Starbase data); Bing (satellite imagery)
By Scott Reinhard
Great Pyramid
of Giza
Starship
Saturn V
Falcon 9
(SpaceX)
Space
Shuttle
400 ft.
Human
Great Pyramid
at Giza
Starship
Saturn V
Falcon 9
(SpaceX)
Space
Shuttle
400 ft.
Human
Sources: SpaceX and NASA
By Scott Reinhard
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Source: nytimes.com
