Just four minutes after launch, the SpaceX Starship rocket exploded. The launch of a SpaceX rocket in south Texas has blanketed the cloud with pulverized concrete, which finally falls over a neighboring small town. A few minutes into its flight, the rocket spun out of control and exploded in midair. The government is looking into the explosive nature of the launch at ground level. The debris blast from the SpaceX rocket launch has renewed environmental concern about the effects of rocket launches.

What is SpaceX?

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, also known as SpaceX, is an American spacecraft maker, launcher, and satellite communications business. It is based in Hawthorne, California. Elon Musk launched it in 2002 with the purpose of lowering space transportation costs in order to colonize Mars.

SpaceX Rocket Blast And The Concern

The launch from SpaceX’s site was near a national wildlife sanctuary at Boca Chica Beach. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, it blasted massive fragments of concrete and metal thousands of feet away and caused a 3.5-acre fire on adjoining properties. To date, there is no early reports of animal casualties have been recorded.

The Boca Chica National Wildlife Refuge grounds and beaches, which are close to the SpaceX Starbase facility, provide critical habitat for endangered species such as the piping plover, red knot, jaguarundi, Northern Aplomado Falcon, and sea turtles like the Kemp’s Ridley. The piping plover is the world’s most endangered marine turtle, and the National Wildlife Refuge has crucial habitat for it. SpaceX launch debris renews environmental concerns as these critically essential species are in close vicinity of the launch site.

The 30 rockets’ engine thrust carved a crater several feet deep into the earth at the launch site. Elon Musk, the creator of SpaceX, did not precisely forecast the destruction of their launchpad. As a result, the consequence of particle matter raining down on inhabitants and the environment as far away as Port Isabel is also not precisely forecasted. Port Isabel is around six kilometers away from the launchpad. The launch impacts South Padre Island, which is a few kilometers up the coast from the launch location.

According to Cortez, after the test flight and explosion, individuals in Port Isabel reported shattered glass in their businesses, rattling windows at their houses, and unanticipated dust and particle matter coating their homes, schools, and land.

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