SpaceX rockets blew away local bird habitats after Elon Musk ‘misled’ NPS officials about expansion, NYT reports

The complex neighbors public land like Boca Chica State Park and the area is near the migratory pathway of birds like Piping Plovers. The species is listed as “threatened” by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

A nonprofit group recorded nine bird nests in the area before June’s launch, but none remained intact.

“All 9 shorebird nests monitored following the rocket launch on June 6 were either missing eggs, had damaged eggs, or both,” a 2024 Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program report said.

“This damage is not consistent with any predator interactions in our experience,” the report added. “Additionally, the strong speed/force of projected debris and wet sand/mud was apparent both in the game camera photographs as well as on the face of the camera bodies themselves — one of which had its lens shattered by a concrete pebble.”

However, environmental officials have more grievances with SpaceX.

The Times reported that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk “exploited the limitations and competing missions of the various agencies” that could impose unfavorable regulations. The National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife offices, which oversee natural and other resources, have “repeatedly” lost to larger agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration.

The outlet also reported that Musk has expanded SpaceX’s operations more than he initially promised officials. A former National Park Service official, Mark Spier, said SpaceX “misled” officials.

“They kept saying, ‘No, we are not going to do that, we are not going to do that,’ and then they came back and said, ‘Yes, we are,'” he said. “We were being misled.”

The focus around SpaceX and its effect on local environments has continued to gain traction. NASA confirmed in June that a large chunk of debris the size of a car hood from SpaceX’s Dragon Capsule crashed in North Carolina.

Representatives from SpaceX, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.