13 hours ago
Mexico Threatens SpaceX Lawsuit After Texas Explosion
Mexico's president is threatening a lawsuit against American innovation — again.
This time, it's Elon Musk's SpaceX that's in the crosshairs, after a recent rocket explosion at the company's Starbase launch site near Boca Chica, Texas.
The site, located just miles from the southern border shared with Mexico, has become a symbol of both cutting-edge space technology and international friction.
During a press conference on Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that her administration is reviewing alleged 'contamination' from debris that crossed into Mexico during a test failure last week, per The Guardian.
The explosion, which occurred during a routine ground test of the Starship system — as previously covered by The Dallas Express — sent a fireball into the sky, a spectacle that has become a fairly routine part of developing powerful next-generation rockets.
'Just a scratch,' Musk posted to X after the explosion.
Sheinbaum claims that the fallout violates international law and says her government is preparing 'the necessary lawsuits' to hold SpaceX accountable.
However, U.S. officials, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — have already reviewed environmental concerns surrounding the program.
As recently as May, the FAA approved an increase in annual launches from five to 25, saying that the launch activity would not pose significant environmental threats, including to wildlife along the Gulf Coast.
The rhetoric from Mexico's president appears to be following a familiar pattern.
In May, Sheinbaum's government said it was suing Google over labeling in its Maps application, after the tech company allegedly renamed the 'Gulf of Mexico' the 'Gulf of America' for some users.
SpaceX, which employs thousands in South Texas and draws global attention to the Lone Star State's emerging role in space exploration, has not commented publicly on the potential lawsuit as of time of publication.
Still, Texans watching this latest dispute may see it as yet another example of foreign leaders targeting American companies for political leverage.
For now, SpaceX continues to push forward with development — even if the 'path to Mars' Musk dreams of seems to draw critics from outsiders, or legal heat from Mexico's leaders.
As previously reported by DX, earlier this week a multinational team of four private astronauts successfully reached the International Space Station, completing a landmark mission by Houston-based Axiom Space in collaboration with SpaceX.
Launched Wednesday aboard SpaceX's new Dragon capsule nicknamed 'Grace' from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the crew docked with the ISS after a 28-hour journey. SpaceX confirmed the docking in a video post, celebrating the mission's smooth arrival.
