Mexico Files Lawsuit Over SpaceX Rocket Debris Pollution

Mexican President Claudia Zinbaum announced on June 25 that she would investigate and consider filing a lawsuit under international law over the debris from the U.S.-based SpaceX Starship rocket that landed off the coast of the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, which was approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in May to increase the number of Starship launches per year from five to 25, claiming “no adverse environmental impacts. In May, the FAA approved SpaceX’s plan to increase the number of Starship launches from five to 25 per year, claiming that there would be “no adverse environmental impacts,” but some of the debris from the June 18 test rocket explosion carried contaminants that have affected the local ecosystem. This is the second time Mexico has initiated legal action against a U.S. company since May, when it sued Google Maps for changing the name of the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of the United States”.