Mexico blames debris from exploding SpaceX rockets for ‘contamination’
Mexico – A small city in Texas just opposite Mexico is the Starship test ground, the obstacle spaceship that Elon Musk hopes that people will one day make people in Mars.
In recent months, several test launches have ended with explosions, which rains the debris on the two countries and in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mexican scientists say that the wreckage kills fauna, including dolphins, sea turtles and fish.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, seen here in Mexico City in April, said that her government will continue if necessary to combat pollution caused by SpaceX launches.
(Marco Ugarte / Associated Press)
In the midst of the growing pressure of her voters, the Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said this week that her government was investigating the effects of “security and environmental” of Musk rockets and found that there is “there is indeed contamination”.
Sheinbaum said his government was trying to determine whether SpaceX violated international laws and said Mexico would deposit “the necessary prosecution”.
His statements are involved in the middle of increased tensions between the United States and Mexico on security, migration and the economy. President Trump’s prices on Mexican imports and threats of American drone strikes on the cartel targets have triggered a wave of nationalism here.
Musk, a billionaire who is also the CEO of Tesla and owner of X, is closely linked to the American administration, having donated more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump. For several months this year, he was the informal leader of the Trump government ministry.
President Trump and Elon Musk speak to journalists from the White House Oval Office in May.
(Images Kevin Dietsch / Getty)
SpaceX declared in an article on X that the independent tests carried out on the material used in the dishwashing vessels confirm that it “presents no chemical, biological or toxicological risk”.
The company said it was trying to recover all debris in exploded devices.
American groups also blamed Spacex Rockets for environmental degradation. The launching installation of the company’s starbase in southern Texas, led to the Boca Chica Wildlife Refuge, an expanse of tides, mangroves and sand dunes which shelters rare and disappearance species, in particular ocklots, sea tortoises and hawks from northern aplomado.
A coalition including the Sierra Club and a local Amerindian tribe continued the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging that the agencies approved test launches without carrying out in -depth environmental examinations. They say that the launches of failed rockets spread concrete and metal debris over thousands of surrounding land feet – and triggered a fire that burned several acres of protected dunes.
In Mexico, environmentalists began to revive alarms earlier this year after the space debris was discovered in the border town of Matamoros, in the Río Bravo – while Mexico calls the Rio Grande – and in the Gulf of Mexico.
In this image of the video made available by SpaceX, one of the company’s prototypes of the company draws its propellers while he lands during a test in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 3, 2021. The two previous attempts ended with explosions.
(Associated Press)
A local non -profit organization in the state of Tamaulipas has published a report documenting the deaths of animals in a region known as the nesting field for lamantins, sharks, whales and other animals. He warned against the risks for sea turtles that ingest particles of space debris.
The group said that it had collected more than a ton of scattered debris along an area more than 25 miles long.
The governor of Tamaulipas said that the authorities also examined the issue. Governor Americo Villarreal Anaya has declared that his government will check if “the necessary distances at international level are respected in order to have these types of facilities so that there is no risk for urban centers”.
