SpaceX Joins Environmental Litigation, Becoming a Joint Defendant Losing or Delaying the Development of Interstellar Spacecraft for Several Years

On May 23rd, Tesla, along with Twitter CEO Elon Musk's SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), became co defendants in an environmental lawsuit filed by a US environmental organization. Last month, the company made its first test flight of the world's largest rocket, the 'Starship', which exploded in the air

On May 23rd, Tesla, along with Twitter CEO Elon Musk's SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), became co defendants in an environmental lawsuit filed by a US environmental organization. Last month, the company made its first test flight of the world's largest rocket, the 'Starship', which exploded in the air.

In a motion filed in court last Friday, SpaceX requested federal judge Carl Nichols to allow the company to become a co defendant with the FAA in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, a non-profit organization for environmental and cultural heritage, against the FAA earlier this month.

The document shows that the plaintiff "does not object" to SpaceX's intervention. Jared Margolis, senior lawyer at the Biodiversity Center and lead lawyer for the plaintiff, said, "It is standard practice and expected for applicants to intervene in cases with license issues

The group suing FAA claims that the agency should have conducted a more in-depth environmental assessment of the potential impact of SpaceX's launch activities before allowing the company to launch the world's largest rocket interstellar spacecraft from its space port interstellar base on the Gulf Coast near Brownsville, Texas.

The Center for Biological Diversity also claims that the "mitigation measures" requested by the agency from SpaceX are insufficient to avoid "significant adverse impacts" on endangered species, their habitats, and indigenous tribes in the region.

SpaceX outlined in the document the potential impact on the company if environmentalists win the lawsuit, including the impact on its business and finances. The space company also argues that this will harm the "significant national interests" and scientific interests that interstellar spacecraft may bring.

If the court makes a ruling in favor of the plaintiff, the FAA's decision may be set aside, and further licensing for the interstellar spacecraft and ultra heavy rocket projects may be significantly delayed, causing serious damage to SpaceX's business

In this lawsuit, the Center for Biological Diversity requested the FAA to provide an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This is a lengthy program that may put SpaceX's interstellar spacecraft development work in Texas on hold for several years.

SpaceX also wrote in the motion that as FAA is a government agency, it cannot fully represent SpaceX's interests in litigation. The FAA stated in a statement that it "does not comment on ongoing litigation issues".

SpaceX is in jeopardy

SpaceX Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen also issued a statement while filing the motion, further detailing the potential damage to the company if they lose the lawsuit. Johnson wrote in a statement that since July 2014, SpaceX has invested over $3 billion to develop interstellar base facilities and spacecraft systems.

Musk's comments after his first full stack launch attempt last month indicate that the company expects to spend approximately $2 billion on the development of interstellar spacecraft this year alone.

Johnson also emphasized the future missions to be carried out by the SpaceX spacecraft. SpaceX has signed a significant contract worth up to $4.2 billion with NASA, which will use its rockets to send astronauts to the moon. In addition, SpaceX has also signed commercial client contracts, including three tasks for billionaire Jared Isaacman, former Yusaku Maezawa, and Dennis Tito. Johnson wrote that these contracts are "currently worth hundreds of millions of dollars".

The interstellar spacecraft is also crucial for the future of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet business, which has over 1.5 million customers. Johnson pointed out that so far, "SpaceX has invested billions of dollars in Star Chain. Musk had previously emphasized the interdependence of these two businesses, and Johnson further reiterated that SpaceX requires interstellar spacecraft flight to launch its second generation star chain satellite V2.

Without an interstellar spacecraft, SpaceX would not only suffer financial damage due to its inability to launch V2 satellites, but would also affect hundreds of thousands of people. They are waiting for the upgrade of the star chain network to provide them with services, "Johnson wrote.

Finally, Johnson pointed out that losing this lawsuit would result in SpaceX having to "significantly reduce" its investment in its interstellar base facilities, which would harm the interests of the company, local employees, and the entire community.

First test flight aftermath

In the first test flight of the interstellar spacecraft, the SpaceX rocket, which was close to 122 meters high, achieved several milestones. It flew for over three minutes, but also lost multiple engines during launch, causing serious damage to ground infrastructure. After the rocket began to fall and was intentionally destroyed in the air, it ultimately failed to reach space.

SpaceX is cleaning up the damaged launch site, where huge craters have been left on the ground, with debris falling into the launch tower, nearby fuel tanks, and other ground equipment. In addition, the launch also generated dust and sand, and it is said that particles are present at a distance of 10 kilometers from the launch pad. This test flight also triggered a forest fire.

Planetary scientist Phil Metzger from the School of Research at the University of Central Florida is studying the composition of this particulate sample. He believes that SpaceX escaped a disaster during the launch process, and the blown concrete may have destroyed the rockets on the launch pad.

Metzger said, "The situation could have been worse than it is now. I think they made a mistake by taking the risk of launching from a concrete surface, but they seem to have a 70% success rate. They cleaned the launch tower, tested the first stage of the rocket, obtained a lot of good data, discovered an interstage problem, and hope to solve this problem and achieve better results in the next test

Metzger did not assess the ecological impact of launch pad debris and rocket explosions on endangered species living and migrating in the area. The Texas Regional Office of the United States Fisheries and Wildlife Administration and other independent researchers are studying the impact of interstellar spacecraft test flights and explosions on the environment.

The SpaceX motion also explains why interstellar spacecraft ultimately benefit the scientific cause. The company wrote that the unprecedented capabilities of rockets "will enable scientists to focus on previously impossible scientific tasks and pursue the fastest and simplest methods from concept to task execution.

SpaceX provides an example: "With its huge capacity, interstellar spacecraft can low-cost put large telescopes and heavy scientific experimental equipment into orbit, and transport goods, personnel, and even settlements to other planets or satellites