Talking Space

Talk all you want about the delays caused by repairs/mods to the launch pad and re-certifying the Autonomous Flight Termination System, the real issue that is grounding Starship at Boca Chica is this one thing: The Lawsuit. You know … the one filed by a consortium of environmental groups and Indigenous tribes against the FAA alleging (based on the observable environmental damage wrought by the April test launch) FAA’s inadequate oversight and review of SpaceX’s plans and operations at Boca Chica. This time around, Larry Herrin and Gene Mikulka are joined by the guy who accurately predicted that the Starship test launch last April 20th would cause more damage than SpaceX or the FAA’s own calculations predicted in its worst-case scenario. His name is Eric Roesch, and he goes by the Twitter handle @ESGHound. Turns out, Eric has experience working both the consulting and regulatory sides of the fence in shepherding Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) documents thro