Mexico’s review of the SpaceX Starship rocket blast on June 18 near its border with the United States is not a mere formality, President Claudia Sheinbaum has said, asserting that the accident resulted in contamination and her country could sue Elon Musk’s company.
“We are not just reviewing this for the sake of reviewing,” she said on Wednesday, referring to the explosion during a routine test in Texas.
The blast sent a towering fireball into the air, scattering debris across the southern Texas border with Mexico.
Sheinbaum has ordered a full investigation into the environmental and security impacts of the blast and warned of legal action if any international laws were violated.
“We’re examining everything related to these rocket launches so close to our border, the impacts they have on the area. And within the framework of international law, we will file the necessary legal actions,” Sheinbaum said according to local media.
SpaceX maintains that there are no hazards to the surrounding area, claiming that previous independent tests on materials used inside Starship, including toxicity analyses, found no chemical, biological, or toxicological risks.
But Mexico’s government thinks otherwise.
“We'll start a process, because there is indeed contamination,” Sheinbaum said.
Debris recovery and clean-up attempts by SpaceX have been intercepted by what the space firm described as “unauthorised parties trespassing on private property”.
Calls for cooperation have not been addressed by the Mexican government, according to the latest information provided by SpaceX on June 26.
The previous two outings of the world’s largest launch vehicle also ended poorly, with the upper stage disintegrating over the Caribbean.
However, the failures will likely do little to dent Musk's long-term vision of building a human colony on Mars, with SpaceX having banked on its “fail fast, learn fast” strategy to drive its progress in spaceflight.
The explosion comes two months after the US Federal Aviation Administration approved an increase in annual Starship rocket launches from five to 25, stating that the increased frequency would not affect the environment.
The approval came despite warnings from conservation groups that the expansion could endanger sea turtles and shorebirds.
A lawsuit against SpaceX would mark the latest in a series of legal clashes between Mexico and major US tech firms.
In May, Sheinbaum’s government announced it had sued Google for renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” on Google Maps for US users, following an executive order by President Donald Trump.
