Conservation groups sued the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday, challenging its approval of expanded rocket launch operations by Elon Musk's SpaceX next to a national wildlife refuge in south Texas without requiring greater environmental study.
The federal lawsuit comes 11 days after SpaceX made good on a newly granted FAA license to send its next-generation Starship rocket on its first test flight, a mission that ended with the vehicle exploding over the Gulf of Mexico.
The shattering force of the launch hurled large chunks of reinforced concrete and metal shrapnel thousands of feet from the launch site, located adjacent to the Lower Rio Grand Valley National Wildlife Refuge near Boca Chica State Park and Beach in Texas.
The blast also ignited a 3.5-acre fire on nearby grounds and sent a cloud of pulverized concrete drifting 6.5 miles to the northwest, raining over surrounding tidal flats and the nearby town of Port Isabel, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
SpaceX hailed the launch as a qualified success that will yield valuable data to advance development of its Starship and Super Heavy rocket, designed as major components in NASA's newly inaugurated Artemis program for returning astronauts to the moon.
But Monday's lawsuit said the April 20 incident marked the latest in a series of at least nine explosive mishaps at Boca Chica in recent years that are disrupting a haven for federally protected wildlife and vital habitat for migratory birds.
Intense noise and light pollution, construction and road traffic also have degraded the area, home to two endangered feline predators - the ocelot and jaguarundi - as well as nesting sites for the endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, and critical habitat for the piping plover, a threatened shorebird, the plaintiffs claimed.
The area and its wildlife are also considered sacred to the people of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation, an indigenous group in south Texas.
The lawsuit claimed the disturbances showed the FAA violated federal law by permitting expanded operations at Musk's Starbase in Boca Chica without mandating the full environmental impact study usually required for major projects.
There was no immediate comment on the court case available from the FAA or SpaceX.
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