Mexico Considering Legal Action Against Musk’s SpaceX  

Mexico is mulling taking legal action against billionaire Elon Musk’s space company due to the environmental damage in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas caused by debris from a SpaceX Starship rocket explosion, MercoPress reported. 

The country has launched an investigation into the debris and the contamination allegedly caused by the rocket launches across the border in South Texas, and is reviewing the firm’s possible violations of international law to pursue the “necessary lawsuits,” because “there is indeed contamination,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. 

She added that Mexican authorities are specifically investigating the environmental impact of the launches on Tamaulipas, which borders southern Texas, according to Agence France-Presse. 

The announcement comes more than a week after a SpaceX Starship rocket exploded at the Texas base during a routine ground test, sending a massive fireball into the sky. 

Mexican officials said they found rocket debris and metal fragments in Tamaulipas, prompting the state’s governor to call for an inquiry into whether the US-based company had met legal requirements regarding the placement of such launch facilities near population centers. 

Authorities had discovered debris on a Tamaulipas beach from a failed Starship launch on May 27. 

Observers noted that any legal case would add to a growing list of disputes between Mexico and major US companies. 

In May, Sheinbaum announced a lawsuit against Google for changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for Google Maps users in the United States, following an executive order by US President Donald Trump.