CNN
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Environmental groups are suing the Federal Aviation Administration in federal court over SpaceX’s launch of its massive Starship rocket last month.
The rocket — the most powerful ever built — took off from a launch pad at SpaceX’s privately owned spaceport in South Texas on April 20 before exploding over the Gulf of Mexico about four minutes into flight.
The lawsuit, which was filed Monday in a federal court in Washington, DC, alleges that the FAA authorized the launch “without complying with bedrock federal environmental law, without fully analyzing the significant environmental and community impacts of the Space X launch program — including destruction of some of the most vital migratory bird habitat in North America — and without requiring mitigation sufficient to offset those impacts.”
The lawsuit says the area around the launch is essential habitat to federally protected species, including the endangered ocelot.
“It’s vital that we protect life on Earth even as we look to the stars in this modern era of spaceflight,” Center for Biological Diversity attorney Jared Margolis said in a statement.
The FAA declined to comment on the active litigation. The agency licenses commercial rocket launches and gave the green light for the SpaceX launch attempt after more than a year of back-and-forth.
The agency is also currently charged with overseeing a mishap investigation into what caused the Starship’s failed test flight last month. Such investigations are routine and have taken place after previous — but smaller-scale — Starship test launches in South Texas.
The FAA’s review “will determine the root cause of the event and identify corrective actions the operator must implement to avoid a recurrence,” the agency said in an emailed statement last week.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service also said in a statement last week that it was working with SpaceX, the FAA and other involved parties to “provide on-the-ground guidance to minimize further impacts and reduce long-term damages to natural resources.”
That activity includes ensuring that SpaceX is complying with the Endangered Species Act, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service, which became the subject of concern after reports that debris from the launch or explosion may have reached nearby protected wildlife areas.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during a Twitter Spaces chat on Saturday evening that he believed SpaceX would be ready to launch Starship on another test flight within six to eight weeks from a technological standpoint.
When asked about potential legal backlash from environmental groups on Saturday, Musk was defiant. “Look at an aerial picture of the of the area and — apart from the area around the launch stand — tell me where things are are damaged. … I think you can’t even see it at this point,” Musk said.
“To the best of our knowledge, there has not been any meaningful damage to the environment,” Musk added.
Musk said he was “glad to report that the pad damage is actually quite small,” though it would take “six to eight weeks” to get the infrastructure prepared for another launch.
CNN has reached out to SpaceX for comment on the lawsuit.
