FAA Sued for 'Failing' to Consider Environmental Impacts of Starship Launch

pcmag.com:

Five environmental and cultural heritage groups are suing the Federal Aviation Administration, claiming the agency failed to address potential dangers of SpaceX rocket launches in Texas.

The FAA last year authorized the SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy Launch Vehicle Program at the Boca Chica Starbase spaceport—"without complying with bedrock federal environmental law, without fully analyzing the significant environmental and community impacts of the SpaceX launch program...and without requiring mitigation sufficient to offset those impacts," according to a complaint(Opens in a new window) filed on Monday.

The lawsuit, registered this week after SpaceX's Starship combusted during a recent launch attempt, was brought by the American Bird Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, Save RGV (Rio Grande Valley), Surfrider Foundation, and Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas, Inc.

After a years-long wait, SpaceX in April received the FAA's blessing to launch Starship—the largest and most powerful rocket to leave Earth. Its first uncrewed test flight was cut short, though, when, on the morning of April 20, the spacecraft exploded about four minutes after takeoff, raining down particulate matter onto the Texas landscape below.

Considering Starbase's proximity to prime habitats for protected species and migratory birds, the space company and its Starship rocket were subject to extensive environmental checks and regulations. The FAA last year dished out 75 actions for SpaceX to protect local wildlife in and around its Boca Chica site.

That, however, did not include a full environmental review, according to the lawsuit, which calls for a full environmental analysis to "truly protect threatened and endangered species and ensure public