A group of homeowners in Texas is suing SpaceX over alleged property damage caused by its Starship rocket, claiming the company did not properly access the impact of the flights on surrounding residences.
More than 70 local residents filed a lawsuit in the federal court in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday, April 30, claiming that their homes “are being repeatedly damaged by noise, vibrations, and sonic booms from SpaceX’s Starship operations.” The residents are accusing SpaceX of negligence, alleging that the company was aware of the risks involved with launching Starship but “proceeded with conscious indifference” to their safety, according to the lawsuit.
Rocket city
SpaceX launched its Starship rocket for the first time on April 20, 2023. The rocket’s inaugural liftoff resulted in excessive damage to the launch mount and scattered debris and dust to surrounding areas. Starship has had 11 test flights since then, and is gearing up for an upcoming launch of a larger version of the megarocket.
Starship, powered by 33 Raptor engines, produces approximately 16 million pounds of thrust during liftoff. A study carried out during Starship’s fifth test flight, which took place in October 2024, found that the biggest rocket ever built poses a significant risk of structural damage, such as glass breaking and falling ornaments, to its surrounding areas. Researchers measured the sound and air pressure resulting from Starship’s test flight, and found that it generated noise at least 10 times louder than a Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX has transformed a large stretch of the Texas coastline into Starbase, a private industrial city built to support the Starship rocket. Once the rocket is fully developed, the company’s founder and CEO Elon Musk said that he is aiming for 100 Starship launches a year.
Even with a few test flights spread across three years, residents of surrounding areas have already had enough.
Collateral damage
The lawsuit is claiming that the homes of plaintiffs have been subjected to intense and damaging acoustic events during Starship’s launches, which resulted in cracks in glass, damage to roofs, and risk of collapsing walls.
The group of Texas homeowners is accusing SpaceX of failing to conduct proper tests ahead of Starship’s flights to properly assess the type of impact they would have on residences in surrounding areas and carrying out the test flights despite a high likelihood that the sonic booms would result in property damage.
“The negligent acts, omissions, and conduct of SpaceX described herein by which SpaceX breached such duty constituted a proximate cause of Plaintiffs’ damages for which SpaceX is liable to Plaintiffs,” the lawsuit states.
This isn’t the first lawsuit claiming damage caused by Starship. A group of environmental organizations in Texas filed a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) following the inaugural launch of Starship. The lawsuit accuses the FAA of rushing the permitting process without adequate environmental review or mitigation requirements.
Despite the public outcry, SpaceX keeps moving ahead with the development of its megarocket at the center of Musk’s dream of one day building a human colony on Mars. Starship’s upcoming test flight is currently scheduled for May 12.
