If there's one leader in the aerospace industry, it's SpaceX. The company's Crew Dragon spacecraft and Cargo Dragon spacecraft are currently the preferred vehicles for transporting astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station.

NASA has awarded SpaceX contracts worth nearly $5 billion through 2030 alone, including the development of the Artemis mission to return astronauts to the moon.

Over the past decade, SpaceX has also become a major supplier to the U.S. Department of Defense, recently winning contracts worth $733.5 million for projects such as launching a network of defense satellites and promoting other national security space goals.

As a human geographer, I am interested in how commercial aerospace and defense companies impact the local communities where they launch and test.

For example, I spent more than two years in Kazakhstan studying the privatization of the Soviet space program and the beginning of the global commercial space industry.

Elon Musk and the influence of SpaceX

Politically speaking, SpaceX is a huge boon for the United States.

As a U.S. defense supplier and contractor, the company's technology has helped nearly end nearly two years of reliance on the Russian Federation for access to the International Space Station. Its billionaire CEO Elon Musk has even expressed plans to colonize Mars.

Musk's decision to spend $250 million to help Donald Trump win the 2024 presidential election is expected to bring more support to SpaceX.

In the new administration, Musk is set to lead a newly created advisory group called the Department of Government Effectiveness, which could benefit his businesses and expand his space ambitions.

Boca Chica, Texas is home to Starbase, SpaceX's flagship assembly and test facility. Since 2021, I have been conducting research with environmental groups in South Texas and multi-generational community members of Latinx and Indigenous ancestry who see space exploration as an industry that changes the landscape and impacts their well-being.

After watching Starbase's development progress since 2014, locals there told me that as the aerospace giant launches toward the stars, there's a lot going on on the ground that's unseen and unsaid.

Breaking eggs to make omelets

Starbase is an industrial facility built by SpaceX to manufacture and test the company's many rocket types.

The surrounding area is a unique and fragile ecosystem of estuarine and coastal grasslands, mudflats and more, home to falcons, hawks, crows, gulls and songbirds.

Since construction began, SpaceX engineers have had to drain water, level soil and pour concrete to support ground tracking stations, assembly buildings, engine test stands, a nearly 500-foot-tall (152-meter) launch tower and on-site fuel mixing and storage.

In a lengthy response to accusations of environmental abuses from local environmental groups, the company insisted it was committed to environmental stewardship.

But developing rockets is a dangerous and messy business. The locations chosen for this type of work are usually (but not always) remote and highly secure installations.

Over the past few years, violent explosions on the ground or in the air are not unheard of. Rocket tests in Scotland, China and Japan all ended in accidents.

In April 2023, a SpaceX prototype Starship rocket exploded over the Gulf of Mexico shortly after liftoff.

This is not the only time a rocket explosion has occurred at a SpaceX operating site.

SpaceX operates a compact but growing operation in Boca Chica, transforming the region. The hamlet was formerly known as Kopernik Shores, and SpaceX purchased nearly all of the approximately 35 ranch homes in the area. Some residents say they are facing pressure to sell their properties at sub-optimal prices following rumors that the county will use eminent domain to seize their homes.

While conducting research in the area, I spoke with local activist Rebekah Hinojosa, a member of the Carrizo-Comerrudo tribe in Texas. To many locals, including Hinojosa, Musk appears to be so well-connected that SpaceX is immune to public criticism.

At a 2018 press conference, Musk said, "We have a lot of land with no one around, so if it explodes, that's cool," referring to a rocket he planned to test at Starbase.

changes in landscape

A device the size of Starbase would inevitably disturb wildlife in four different state and federal wildlife refuges surrounding it.

If you walk through a protected area, you'll likely see shrapnel, rocket chassis fragments, and other random debris from any number of explosions—that is, if someone else doesn't pick them up first.

In December 2022, I visited a glamping site near Starbase. It displays various pieces of rocket wreckage throughout the site, which they call souvenirs of the new space age.

Within SpaceX and NASA, the 2023 explosion is seen as a key step in developing the Starship rocket. The event did produce valuable data on the rocket's performance - and it did little to damage the company's reputation.

Texas has given tremendous support to SpaceX. The company promises to bring high-tech jobs to the country's poorest areas.

SpaceX creates approximately 2,100 jobs. However, reports show that local and state politicians see more personal gains in their real estate holdings and campaign budgets than in the region's overall economy.

Labs near the community

Ultimately, to develop a rocket, you need a place to test your designs.

“Our local beaches are laboratories,” Hinojosa, a local activist, told me.

A coalition of residents and conservation groups made up of Native, Latino and Chicano people are suing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies in an effort to crack down on SpaceX.

The groups believe SpaceX misled state and federal regulators about its Starbase operations. They claim SpaceX changed the frequency of planned test launches and built new facilities for multiple rocket types, making the company's initial environmental impact report for the region inaccurate.

Some of the key issues the groups are working on include trying to expand Starbase into more protected areas. Another point of contention is the deluge system, which after testing produced thousands of gallons of toxic wastewater to cool the launch pad and rocket engines.

Although the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality have issued notices to SpaceX for violations of the Clean Water Act, claimants in recent lawsuits allege that the agencies have not held the company accountable for the violations. The company denies any wrongdoing and refutes accusations of environmental harm.

"As we build launch capabilities and develop new sites across the country, we remain committed to public safety and mitigating our impact on the environment," SpaceX wrote in a statement. "We are taking action only for operations in Texas. The list of measures is over two hundred, including ongoing monitoring and sampling of the short- and long-term health of local flora and fauna. The suggestion that our operations are operating without or in disregard of environmental regulations is patently false.

So, what does the future hold? Many from Texas conservation agencies, activist groups and Native communities want the company to withdraw. Given the high level of public support for space exploration in the United States and the growing friendship between Musk and Trump, it seems unlikely that SpaceX will withdraw from the region.

While this may require tough negotiations and concessions from all parties, I hope there is a middle ground somewhere where space exploration and environmental protection can coexist.

This article was updated on January 17, 2024, to reflect the $250 million Musk spent to help Trump win the 2024 election and the correct speed of light.