Starship stacked and ready to launch from Boca Chica.
Only one problem with that: the FAA has announced that there will be no launch license issued until late November, so if Musk launches this Sunday, it will be without an FAA license.
What would be the consequences of such an act by SpaceX, to launch a huge rocket without a launch license? Would they just fine him? Would they enact more drastic penalties?
Ever since SpaceX started major construction at Boca Chica, Texas back in 2018, the Musk "bros" have been invading the area. Rocket groupies are all over the planet. They seem to not care about the people who happen to live within just a few miles of the launch pads at Boca Chica. As long as they "launch that sucker!" they are ecstatic. There have been a few explosions at Boca Chica so far, but none on the scale of the launchpad explosion at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on September 1, 2016, during a static-fire test.
Early on, I thought it was kinda cool to have a rocket facility in deep south Texas. It certainly brought some economic activity to the area around Brownsville, one of the poorest areas in the country. And of course Musk gave the city of Brownsville $30 million to renovate the Brownsville downtown sector, so politicians just love the guy. Musk can do no wrong, according to many.
SpaceX had done some short hops at Boca Chica to test some things, but nothing like the first launch of Starship in Spring of 2023. During that launch, our house shook like mad, and we are about 6 miles from the launchpad, as the crow flies. Windows across the island and over in Port Isabel shattered. Ours didn't, perhaps because we have hurricane-resistant windows on this house, but the feeling of the house shaking was nauseating and frightening.
That is when I did some map measurements. At KSC in Florida, the closest residential homes are about 11 miles away from the iconic launch pad 39A. Here, on SPI, some homes and structures are only 3 miles away from the launchpads at Boca Chica. I'd say we are a little too close, or, rather, he is too close to us, but don't forget those politicians and civic leaders who have their hands out. It's no problem, they said.
And now Musk has transformed into some sort of "Dark MAGA." Huge Trump supporter, jumping around like a trained monkey. Probably thinks Trump would give him a huge tax cut, and Kamala Harris would not. I think it's about as simple as that. Not only do his electric cars catch fire when saltwater comes into contact with them, his cybertrucks are becoming uninsurable, he may be launching rockets without permission, and he's suddenly a huge right-winger. Oh, and he is the richest man on the planet.
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