FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
5/6/2025
Contact: Bekah Hinojosa at (956) 975 – 6634 or bekah@sotxejn.org
Rio Grande Valley Organizations Condemn FAA’s Decision to Launch 25 SpaceX Rockets Per Year
BROWNSVILLE, TX. – Today, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an unjust decision allowing SpaceX to move forward with increasing the experimental and dangerous Starship/SuperHeavy rocket – the largest rocket in human history- launches to 25 times per year from Boca Chica Beach. The decision comes after Elon Musk forced an exclusive, sham election to create a company town on the beach for his SpaceX employees called “Starbase,” which was voted on May 3rd. Rio Grande Valley residents will continue mobilizing to protect access to Boca Chica Beach by urging Texas House Representatives to vote against House Bill 4660/ Senate Bill 2188 and House Bill 4661 that would give Starbase control of sacred Boca Chica Beach and criminalize locals for accessing the beach.
For years, Brownsville and Laguna Madre residents have decried the last eight Starship/SuperHeavy rocket launches for causing seismic activity that shook their homes, the destruction of more than 60 acres of wildlife habitat, and the loss of public access to Boca Chica beach. Organizations have taken action by filing lawsuits to protect the Texas Open Beaches Act and therefore, public access to the beach, suing the FAA for wrongfully allowing SpaceX to continue launches, and by demanding that the FAA and SpaceX consult with the Esto’k Gna Tribal Nation, who are the Native people of the area.
In response, Bekah Hinojosa, with South Texas Environmental Justice Network, issued the following statement:
“Elon Musk pressured and forced the FAA to give him this fraudulent decision– 25 destructive SpaceX rocket launches at the expense of our low-income South Texas community. The FAA didn’t even conduct a thorough environmental review of the ongoing destruction to our land and beach that these rocket launches have already caused. The last eight Starship/SuperHeavy rockets launched caused homes over twenty miles away to shake, led to illegal dumping on our beach, and burned down wildlife habitat. Lawmakers must demand that the FAA restart this review of SpaceX’s permit process for the sake of our community and the island communities littered with flammable rocket debris.”
In response, Christopher Basaldú, PhD, with Esto’k Gna Tribal Nation (Carrizo Comecrudo Nation), issued the following statement:
“The FAA issuance of a Mitigated FONSI is premature and irresponsible. Neither SpaceX nor its agents nor the FAA have consulted with the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Nation, the Esto’k Gna who are the original Native human beings of the land. Ignoring the original people like we don’t exist is genocidal thinking. This is a violation of human rights and the Universal Rights of Indigenous Peoples, according to the United Nations Declaration. The Boca Chica area is ancestral sacred land of the Esto’k Gna who have had free and open access to Boca Chica for many thousands of years. The FAA’s assessments are incomplete, and their conclusions and recommendations are erroneous. FAA must send SpaceX back to “square one” and demand SpaceX complete a new and full Environmental Impact Statement. SpaceX has been polluting the land and the water and lying about it for years. For the FAA to pretend that this has “no significant environmental impact” is ludicrous.”