Politico: California officials postpone authorization to launch SpaceX rockets, Elon Musk's tweets about the election among possible reasons
Kyiv • UNN
The California Coastal Commission has denied SpaceX a permit to launch 50 rockets a year because of Elon Musk's political statements. Commissioners expressed concern about Musk's influence on elections and SpaceX's classification as a military contractor.
The California Coastal Commission rejected SpaceX's request to launch up to 50 rockets a year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Among the reasons were Elon Musk's political statements in the context of the US elections.
Writes UNN with reference to Politico.
Elon Musk's statements about the US presidential election jeopardize his ability to launch rockets off the central coast of California.
Elon Musk jumps around the country spewing political lies
Agency members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders voted to reject the Air Force's plan to allow SpaceX to launch up to 50 rockets a year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
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This is also due to the fear that all SpaceX launches will be considered military activities - the corresponding status will free Musk's company from the need to obtain its own permits. Even if no military payloads are transported.
At the same time, Commissioner Justin Cummings voted to approve the plan. But Cummings said he was still uncomfortable with the lack of data on the impact of the launches. He also shared concerns about SpaceX's classification as a military contractor.
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Caryl Hart, chairman of the California State Coastal Commission, also spoke about Elon Musk's active political activity.
I really appreciate the work of the Space Force. But here we're dealing with a company whose CEO has aggressively entered the presidential race, and he's running the company in a way that Commissioner Newsom just described, which I think is very troubling
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Representatives of SpaceX did not attend the hearing in person, but instead made a statement on Zoom in support of the Space Force request.
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The California State Coastal Commission has been in a dispute with the Air Force Space Forces since May 2023 over the 1,351-kilometer-long California coastline.
This dispute is related to the US Department of Defense's request to SpaceX to increase the number of satellite launches from Vandenberg from six to 36 per year.
It is worth noting that at a recent meeting, the Coastal Commission approved a 36-launch plan under the condition that the US Space Force take 7 measures to improve environmental protection and access to the coast.
Later, during the hearings, the military did not commit to fulfill the relevant requirements.
