MEXICO CITY, June 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum threatened legal action over falling debris and contamination from Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket launches across the border in the United States.
Mexico’s government was studying which international laws were being violated in order to file “the necessary lawsuits” because “there is indeed contamination,” Sheinbaum told her morning news conference.
Last week, a SpaceX Starship rocket exploded during a ground test at the company’s Starbase site in south Texas, near the border. The fireball was the latest blow to Musk’s Mars ambitions.
Mexican officials are conducting a “comprehensive review” of the rocket launches’ environmental impact on Tamaulipas, the neighbouring Mexican state.
Despite conservation group concerns, the US Federal Aviation Administration approved an increase in annual Starship launches from five to 25 in May, saying the expansion would not harm the environment.
A lawsuit over SpaceX would add to Mexico’s recent disputes with US tech giants. In May, Sheinbaum’s government said it sued Google for renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” on Google Maps in the US, citing an executive order by Donald Trump. — NNN-AGENCIES
