SpaceX sues California regulators over rejected launches, claiming political bias

SpaceX filed a lawsuit against a California commission Tuesday, accusing members of political bias after they rejected the aerospace company’s request to allow more rocket launches from an air base in the state.

The suit was filed in federal court against the California Coastal Commission, a state agency tasked with planning and regulating the land and water use on the state’s coast.

It follows a recent commission meeting during which the majority of the panel denied a request from SpaceX to launch up to 50 Falcon 9 rockets per year at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara. This would be an increase from the 36 launches currently allowed every year at the U.S. Air Force base.

SpaceX first began launching Falcon 9 rockets at Vandenberg in 2013

SpaceX asked the court to prohibit the commission from regulating SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches.

SpaceX’s attorneys argued the agency exceeded its authority by punishing a company for the political views and statements of its leader and largest stakeholder, CEO Elon Musk.

The aerospace company said the commission’s “overreach” unfairly targets constitutionally protected speech, beliefs and practices that do not relate to the launches themselves.

Musk has increasingly waded into right-wing politics in recent months, emerging as a vocal advocate for former President Trump. Campaign finance records filed Tuesday showed Musk personally dished out at least $75 million to the America PAC, the pro-Trump super PAC the billionaire helped found.

The tech mogul appeared on the campaign trail with Trump earlier this month and is planning more appearances in Pennsylvania in connection with the America PAC.

His embrace of Republican politics and Trump can now be seen nearly daily on his social platform X, which was known as Twitter until he bought it in 2022.

The suit pointed to comments made during last week’s public hearing by commissioners, who made note of Musk’s political involvement during this election.

According to the suit, Commissioner Caryl Hart noted SpaceX is led by someone who has “aggressively injected himself into the presidential race and made it clear what his point of view is.”

Commissioner Gretchen Newsom added, “Right now Elon Musk is hopping around the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet.”

The commissioners contended SpaceX’s space launch activities are not a federal government program and are carried out by a private entity, meaning the company is subject to the regulation of the commission.

SpaceX, however, is a U.S. government contractor that provides launch series for the Pentagon and sells satellite services to other federal agencies, prompting some military officials to argue SpaceX launches should be considered a federal agency activity, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Musk slammed the commissioners’ decision in a post on X, calling on them to resign.

“The Coastal Commission has one job — take care of the California coast. It is illegal for them to make decisions based on what they (mostly wrongly) think are my politics,” he wrote.

“For example, I have done more to advance sustainable energy & help the environment than maybe anyone ever, which is not exactly a ‘far-right’ position. Yet here they are shamelessly breaking the law! They should resign immediately and face the appropriate legal consequences for their actions.”

The commission declined to comment on the lawsuit.

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