SpaceX recently performed two tests of its new water deluge system, which is meant to protect the surrounding infrastructure during launches of the company’s Starship megarocket. The company is doing so, it would appear, without applying for the environmental permits that would have allowed SpaceX to legally discharge wastewater around the launchpad, CNBC reported.
Elon Musk’s rocket company appears to be in trouble again. According to a spokesperson from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the state environmental regulator, SpaceX had not applied for a Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) permit at the Starbase facility.
Why is this so important? Let’s backtrack to this past April when SpaceX launched its Starship from its facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The large rocket flew for about four minutes and was self destructed after it began to tumble. At the time, the company did not have the infrastructure in place to damper some of the flames that shoot out from the rocket’s 33 Raptor engines during liftoff. The new water deluge system is being described as a “bidet for rockets,” and honestly that is an accurate description.
The launch mount, lacking the suppression infrastructure, was severely damaged after Starship blasted off this spring. That damage created environmental issues for the surrounding region; debris was kicked up and thrown into the ocean and to the surrounds areas, while nearby towns were covered in dust.
The botched blast off resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) being sued for allowing the launch without better environmental review. “As the Nation carries out the modern era of spaceflight, we must decide whether we will protect the wildlife and frontline communities that can be adversely affected by our desire to reach the stars,” the complaint filed this May in D.C.’s federal district court said.
Months after the failed launch of Starship, SpaceX installed a large metal plate under the launchpad, in addition to the water deluge system. It tested the water deluge system earlier this July and a second time last week without the proper permits. Environmental groups that filed the lawsuit against the FAA this May are now increasingly concerned over the ongoing environmental issues at the Texas facility.
“They are clearly making changes to the launch site, and how they do their launches,”Jared Margolis, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity involved in the lawsuit against the FAA, said according to CNBC. “There’s been no transparency on that, and no way for the public to see what those changes are or offer comment on them as the National Environment Policy Act requires.”
Gizmodo reached out to SpaceX and asked if the company has since begun to file for the appropriate permit. The company has not yet responded.
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