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- Elon Musk has responded after California officials rejected a request for more frequent SpaceX launches.
- The state’s Coastal Commission denied a request from the US Space Force on Thursday.
- Some commissioners expressed concern about Musk’s politics.
Elon Musk has threatened to take legal action following reports that a California state commission cited his politics when rejecting a request for more frequent SpaceX launches from the state’s central coast.
The California Coastal Commission on Thursday voted 6-4 against the US Space Force’s request to allow SpaceX to increase the number of launches of its Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base from 36 to 50 a year.
In a video of the meeting viewed by Business Insider, commissioner Gretchen Newsom expressed specific concerns before the vote on Thursday over Musk’s political posts and working conditions at SpaceX.
“Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet,” she said.
“It appears that rather than prioritizing the welfare of SpaceX employees and the environment, the focus has been on profit maximization,” she added.
In response to Newsom’s statement, commission Chair Caryl Hart said: “You could argue that it’s bringing in politics, but this is a political matter to some extent because it involves the US government, it involves the Coastal Commission.”
Hart said that while she greatly appreciated the Space Force’s work, they were “dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race.”
Musk responded to a Politico story about the commissioners’ comments, writing on X alongside a screenshot of the story: “Incredibly inappropriate. What I post on this platform has nothing to do with a ‘coastal commission’ in California!”
“Filing suit against them on Monday for violating the First Amendment,” he wrote, adding: “Tuesday, since court is closed on Monday.”
The commission, which aims to protect California’s coast and ocean, also disagreed with SpaceX and the military’s characterization of the launches as federal agency activities, which would exempt the company from obtaining a permit to carry out launches.
Commissioners argued that SpaceX was primarily a private company and should therefore have to obtain a permit itself.
“It is essential that SpaceX apply for a CDP,” Hart said, referring to a Coastal Development Permit, adding: “There is no other way forward in my opinion.”
Some commissioners took the opportunity to commend the military’s recent efforts in working with staff on environmental issues. The commission also noted serious concerns about potential impacts on the local environment caused by the rockets’ sonic booms.
Dr. Ravi Chaudhary, an assistant secretary of the Air Force, told the hearing that the Space Force remained committed to protecting the coastline and local coastal species.
Business Insider has contacted both the California Coastal Commission and SpaceX for comment.
