Elon Musk‘s rocket manufacturing company SpaceX on Monday refuted media reports on its operations in Texas polluting surrounding waters.
Allegations: “CNBC's story on Starship's launch operations in South Texas is factually inaccurate,” the company wrote on X.
The CNBC report referred to by the company alleges, citing a notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), that the company violated environmental regulations by repeatedly releasing pollutants into or near water bodies in Texas.
As per the report, the agency said that its office in the city of Harlingen received 14 complaints alleging environmental impacts from the Starbase facility’s “deluge system.”
SpaceX Responds: SpaceX said in a post on social media platform X that the company’s deluge system refers to the Starship’s water-cooled flame detector system which protects the launch site and surrounding area during launch operations and applies clean, potable water to absorb heat and vibration when the rocket engines start firing.
“SpaceX worked with the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) throughout the build and test of the water deluge system at Starbase to identify a permit approach,” SpaceX wrote in its post. “TCEQ personnel were onsite at Starbase to observe the initial tests of the system in July 2023, and TCEQ's website shows that SpaceX is covered by the Texas Multi-Sector General Permit.”
Though the Environmental Protection Agency raised similar concerns about the company polluting surrounding water bodies in March, it was done without an understanding of facts on the deluge system’s operation and the agency revised its position after an explanation, the company said.
“After we explained our operation to the EPA, they revised their position and allowed us to continue operating, but required us to obtain an Individual Permit from TCEQ, which will also allow us to expand deluge operations to the second pad. We've been diligently working on the permit with TCEQ, which was submitted on July 1st, 2024,” it added. The company also expressed optimism that TCEQ will issue the draft Individual Permit and Agreed Compliance Order this week.
The company has gotten the green light from both TCEQ and EPA that the deluge system operations can continue, SpaceX said, while adding that it causes no harm to the environment.
Why It Matters: Last month, SpaceX also refuted reports of its operations in Boca Chica threatening the piping plover population. CEO Elon Musk then also dismissed the allegations of environmental damage as just a few destroyed bird nests. “To make up for this heinous crime, I will refrain from having omelette for a week,” Musk wrote in a post.
All development and manufacturing of SpaceX's ambitious Starship launch vehicle currently takes place only at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. The facility occupies over 350 acres of land and over 222,000 square feet of manufacturing.
All the past four test flights of the Starship were launched from Starbase. The fifth flight, slated for the end of August, is also expected to launch from Starbase.
Starship is touted as the world’s most powerful launch vehicle, standing 121 meters tall and weighing approximately 5,000 tonnes. SpaceX is expected to have at least six test flights of the Starship this year, according to Musk’s latest estimate from March.
NASA is currently relying on the success of Starship to land humans back on the moon as part of its Artemis program. The last crewed lunar mission occurred in 1972 with Apollo 17. Since then, no crew has traveled beyond low-Earth orbit.
Musk, meanwhile, hopes to take humans to Mars in the future with the vehicle.
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Photo courtesy: SpaceX
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