Elon Musk’s company has a new conflict with the authorities. Another local regulatory body has begun to put a spoke in SpaceX’s wheels: the California Coastal Commission. The commission rejected SpaceX’s request to allow an increase in Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County from 36 to 50. The reason for the refusal was Elon Musk’s “unacceptable” activity on the X network.
Don’t see Elon Musk? And he is! Image source: AI generation Kandinsky 3.0/3DNews
The Commission’s refusal stumped even the military, who submitted the request on behalf of SpaceX. “Incredibly inappropriate. What I publish on this platform has nothing to do with the “Coastal Commission” in California! ”Musk was indignant on his account. There, Elon Musk promised that he would sue the Commission. And this happened the other day (he was going to do it on Tuesday; Monday was a day off at the authority).
Incredibly inappropriate. What I post on this platform has nothing to do with a “coastal commission” in California!
Filing suit against them on Monday for violating the First Amendment. https://t.co/bDgFPTdNal
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SpaceX’s lawsuit states a request to equate the company’s cooperation with the US Military Space Forces (Falcon 9 rocket launches) to federal programs. This would remove the California Coastal Commission from the equation if SpaceX needs to expand its launch program. At the moment, the Commission has made an internal ruling that SpaceX mainly serves its commercial interests (see the deployment of the Starlink network) and has a very indirect relationship with federal programs.
The commission voted six to four to reject an increase in the number of Falcon 9 launches from 36 to 50 this year. Later, when commenting on this matter, some of those who voted against explained their position by Elon Musk’s unworthy public behavior, safety problems in the company and concern for the environment on California beaches.