Homeowners sue SpaceX over property damage allegedly caused by Starship
About 80 homeowners in South Texas say launches of the mega-rocket have damaged their properties.
About 80 South Texas property owners have sued SpaceX over alleged damage to their homes from Starship rocket launches and landings since 2023.
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Brownsville alleges Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies, Corp. has been negligent in its flight tests and trespassed on the properties with damaging rocket noise during flights of the mega-rocket through October.
The 53 homes are in small towns between 5 and 10 miles from SpaceX's launch complex near Boca Chica Beach outside Brownsville with 43 in Port Isabel and the others in Laguna Vista, Laguna Heights and South Padre Island.
The lawsuit doesn't describe the specific damage incurred by each homeowner, but there have been reports of houses shaking, items falling off shelves and broken windows after previous launches and landings of Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket.
"SpaceX has repeatedly subjected the surrounding areas to extraordinary amounts of acoustic energy including noise, vibrations, and sonic booms," it said of the flights, which can produce multiple sonic booms in addition to the sustained noise of launch, depending on the mission.
Starship operations have subjected the plaintiffs' homes "to repeated intense and damaging acoustic events," the lawsuit said.
Scientists and SpaceX have been working to understand the effects of Starship's acoustics and the cumulative effects of multiple launches, which the lawsuit alleges have been "inadequately modeled."
The lawsuit cited several scientific studies about Starship noise, including one by Brigham Young University researchers, who concluded that each "Starship launch is equivalent to around 4-6 (Space Launch System) launches and at least 10 Falcon 9 launches."
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, which include Benigno "Trey" Martinez of Brownsville and Francisco "Frank" Guerra of San Antonio, are seeking a jury trial.
This appears to be the largest property damage case tied to Starship, which is expected to take astronauts to space as soon as next year as part of NASA's Artemis III mission.
SpaceX is ramping up to launch and land the craft from Starbase as many as 25 times a year, which it has approval to do. The company has been testing the newest version of Starship for the mega-rocket's 12th flight, which is expected to occur this month.
It also is preparing to go public this summer in what's expected to be the largest initial public offering. The company reportedly is on track to be worth $2 trillion when it goes public.