2023: #Environmentalists and #NativeAmerican tribe rebuke #SpaceX ahead of historic rocket launch

Opponents of the project say owner #ElonMusk’s space travel aspirations are not worth the risk of a catastrophic explosion.

by Cameron Langford / April 19, 2023

"SpaceX launched a rocket with 33 engines, the most powerful ever built, Thursday morning from its South #Texas port and hailed the test flight as a success, though the rocket and an attached space capsule exploded just four minutes after liftoff.

"The company said in a best-case scenario it would be a 90-minute maiden voyage into space and its first-stage #SuperHeavy rocket would separate from its second-stage #Starship spacecraft about three minutes into the flight, and do a controlled descent into the Gulf of Mexico. And Starship would travel around the globe and land off the coast of Hawaii.

"But with SpaceX livestreaming the event the components failed to separate and the vehicle flipped over before exploding.

"Musk, who also owns Twitter, praised his employees’ work on the project in a Twitter post: 'Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.'

"Environmental and #CivilRights groups condemned SpaceX’s endeavor in statements Wednesday afternoon, saying they feared an explosion would destroy #EndangeredSpecies’ habitat in a nearby wildlife refuge and that rocket shrapnel could injure area residents.

"But there were no immediate reports of environmental damage or injuries Thursday morning after the explosion.

"Since Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, it has become the world’s premier commercial space business, launching its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets more than 220 times, making history as the first private firm to send astronauts to the International Space Station and delivering cargo to the International Space Station more than 20 times with its Dragon spacecraft.

Aborted launches and explosions are commonplace for the company as it refines its technology, including a 2019 test flight from its '#Spaceport' in #BocaChica — an unincorporated and sparsely populated village in Cameron County outside #BrownsvilleTX — that started a 100-acre brush fire in the Lower #RioGrandeValley #NationalWildlifeRefuge."

Read more:
https://www.courthousenews.com/environmentalists-and-native-american-tribe-rebuke-spacex-ahead-of-historic-rocket-launch/

#ElonSucks #EnvironmentalRacism #RioGrandeDelta #SacredSites #WildlifeRefuge #ProtectTheSacred #Colonialism #CorporateColonialism
#OccupySpaceX #TwoHeartedPeople #USPol #NativeAmericans #CarrizoComecrudo #AncestralLand #ProtectTheSacred #Pollution #ExplodingRockets

Hype for the Future 149H: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/03/29/hype-for-the-future-149h-okefenokee-national-wildlife-refuge/

https://adam-gladstone.pixels.com/featured/boardwalk-hellcat-trail-adam-gladstone.html

A photo from the Parker River #nationalwildliferefuge in #newburyport #massachusetts #boardwalk #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #ayearforart #buyintoart #fedigiftshop #mastoart #fineartamerica

Headed to the wildlife refuge to try and get some photos of some bald eagles and snow geese.

#birding #birder #birdphotography #NationalWildlifeRefuge #canon #tamron #TamronLens

Public lands are #StolenLands! #LandBack! No cities for #TechBros!

"One proposed Freedom City site lies within the National #Conservation Area on the Utah–Colorado border, just west of Grand Junction, but local officials note that the area lacks adequate #water. Another target is the #Presidio, part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, in the heart of San Francisco, a rare urban parkland that offers green space, a trail system, historic buildings and museums, and beach access. The proposal would take this public #GreenSpace and convert it into a commercial and #RealEstate #SacrificeZone, robbing the city’s residents of a priceless natural amenity.

"Then there’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal, which despite its name, is no longer a military site but a a #NationalWildlifeRefuge — one of the largest to showcase High Plains grassland ecosystems. Ten miles from downtown Denver, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bills the area as 'a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of busy urban life where time moves at nature’s pace.' Other areas identified for potential conversion include public lands near Boise, Idaho and Bend, Oregon.

"These groups are calling for congressional legislation, because without it, the core principles of the concept would probably be illegal. Waiving the #NationalEnvironmentalPolicyAct, granting tax incentives, waiving #CivilRights regulations, and fast-tracking #NuclearPlants are on the menu, a tempting prize for the pro-development #corporatists. To address this problem, legislation has already been proposed by Tom Bell, a libertarian legal consultant and tech entrepreneur, to create a Freedom Cities Board that would be empowered to waive state and federal laws within the bounds of lands carved out to become Freedom Cities. Senator #MikeLee’s (R-UT) recently-introduced HOUSES Act, which would authorize the sale of federal public lands for housing development, has also been trumpeted by Freedom Cities promoters as a possible avenue to advance their agenda.

"It should come as no surprise that the Freedom Cities initiative has its roots in communist China, where the government created #SpecialEconomicZones (#SEZ) to attract foreign investment through deregulation and tax incentives. The most prominent of these is Shenzhen, created by Deng Xiaoping as the ultimate experiment of unregulated capitalism, a place with special tax breaks and incentives, fewer labor protections, and greater freedom from regulation than was prevalent in mainland China. "

https://westernwatersheds.substack.com/p/freedom-cities-a-tech-bro-fantasy

#TechBrosSuck #NoNukes #WaterIsLife #NatureIsLife #CorporateColonialism

https://adam-gladstone.pixels.com/featured/puffer-pond-panorama-number-2-adam-gladstone.html

Just your run of the mill #panorama of a #pond in a #nationalwildliferefuge. The image is for sale at the link above
#photography #naturephotography #ayearforart #buyintoart #fedigifitshop #nature