SpaceX launch produces less litter and debris but is still harmful, environmentalists say

BOCA CHICA BEACH, Texas (Border Report) — Wire, sheet metal and pieces of concrete were strewn on Tuesday near the sand dunes of this South Texas beach. Yet, environmentalists tell Border Report that the debris from SpaceX’s weekend test launch of its Starship could have been much worse.

All 33 of the Starship’s Raptor engines fired during Saturday’s second test launch — the most engines to ever fully fire — sending the rocket into space and high over the Gulf of Mexico.

It appears that a new launch pad — built after the failed April test launch of the first Starship rocket — as did a newly built retaining wall designed to prevent debris from getting into the delicate tidal flats, held this time.

In a statement posted to its website, SpaceX said this second flight “will provide invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship” and admitted that mishaps — including the loss of the spacecraft about four minutes into its flight — are part of the company’s learning curve.

“Success comes from what we learn, and this flight test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary. Data review is ongoing as we look for improvements to make for the next flight,” the company said.

Avian conservation biologist Justin LeClaire, of the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, said he was at the launch site within three hours after the test flight on Saturday, after the road to Starbase was reopened.

He said what he saw was far different from the mountain of debris that he witnessed in April during SpaceX’s first failed test flight of its Starship spacecraft.

“I didn’t observe anything too out of the ordinary. Some metal scrap debris from their new wall, and some of the deluge water seemed to spray out of their property onto state park land in the south side,” LeClaire told Border Report.

On Tuesday, a trio of workers were laying down absorbent pads just south of the launch pad in the area LeClaire described, and a strong chemical odor could be detected near the area, where the ground was wet.

Workers also were fixing pipes and ground areas and some structures appear to have taken dents from the force of the explosion as the rocket blasted off. And some pieces of metal could be seen floating in the tidal flats.

But there were no wildfires from the blast, which Jim Chapman, president of Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, says is a vast improvement to the April 20 test flight, which triggered fires in the area.

Chapman says he is concerned, however, if deluge water is entering the tidal flats or nearby protected lands of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

“You can’t discharge into wetlands without hurting it,” Chapman told Border Report.

Mary Angela Branch, a board member of Save RGV, says she is waiting to hear what will come ashore from the Gulf, since the rocket blew up so many miles from the launch site.

“The interesting thing will be what washes up on the beaches,” Branch said Tuesday.

She said during a board meeting on Monday night, several members from Brownsville and the town of Laguna Vista reported “the thunderous launch was felt at their homes and one member said he thought his house was going to explode off of the slab.”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted Monday that they’ll be ready to test another Starship in a few weeks.

“Starship Flight 3 hardware should be ready to fly in 3 to 4 weeks. There are three ships in final production in the high bay,” Musk tweeted on the platform X, formerly Twitter.

But that timeline is not up to the company.

The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation because the Starship broke apart in flight, and SpaceX is not allowed another test launch until cleared.

It took the agency nearly seven months to clear SpaceX after its first failed test launch in April.

“The anomaly resulted in a loss of the vehicle. No injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA will oversee the SpaceX-led mishap investigation to ensure SpaceX complies with its FAA-approved mishap investigation plan and other regulatory requirements,” the FAA said in a statement.

Regardless of the loss of the vehicle, SpaceX deemed the test a success because of what it called these milestones:

• Firing of all 33 Raptor engines, which for the first time, completed a full-duration burn during ascent.
• A successful hot-stage separation, powering down all but three of the raptor engines and successfully igniting the six second stage raptor engines before separating the vehicles.
• The booster successfully completed its flip maneuver and initiated a boostback burn.
• The first Starship to reach outer space.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.