According to a new report, SpaceX rockets are negatively impacting endangered animal species, especially a specific bird species in Texas.
Explosions from test rocket launches by Elon Musk's SpaceX aerospace company have been linked to a decline in the numbers of an endangered bird species .
A report on the environmental impacts of rocket reveals that tests of SpaceX's Super Heavy rocket may halve the available habitat for the piping plover, an endangered bird.
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The draft report from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, released to CNBC, also warns that the expansion of SpaceX's Starbase site in Texas will have an "impact" on the bird as well as other endangered species such as two breeds of wild cats (ocelots and jaguarundis).
According to the report, the movement, noise, heat and explosions from construction and missile will damage the animals.
“The findings indicate that SpaceX’s activity has negatively impacted the piping plover,” the report says, citing research that found that the number of birds was halved during the time SpaceX was testing rockets at Boca Chica in Texas.
He continued: “It is not clear what happened to the ‘missing’ birds, but if SpaceX’s activities resulted in the loss of more than half of the population in Boca Chica, then the entire habitat is affected.”
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The report's authors argue that it is unlikely that the birds "just went somewhere else" and highlighted the risks to wildlife and endangered species posed by explosions from Elon Musk 's SpaceX rockets .
“Piping plovers are particularly sensitive to human disturbance because they are ground-nesting birds that live on open, sandy shores,” the Endangered Species Coalition said.
The February 2022 report says the bird lives in Boca Chica on an area covering 903.65 acres, of which 446.27 acres will be lost as a result of SpaceX's activities.
However, the report added that the loss of this space “would not represent an adverse modification” of the natural environment available to birds in the rest of the US.
These findings, however, could hinder Elon Musk's plans to build new facilities and test larger rockets near the cities of Brownsville and South Padre Island, Texas.
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SpaceX had recently made some proposals to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that included new launch and landing sites, a power plant and other facilities.
The FAA requires SpaceX to contact the Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that any additional activity does not violate the Endangered Species Act.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
