A group of 80 South Texas plaintiffs are suing Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX, alleging its rocket testing caused “massive” sonic booms that damaged their houses repeatedly over a two-year period.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Southern District of Texas Court on Thursday, accusing the company of gross negligence and trespassing for loud blasts caused by 11 rocket tests from April 2023 to October 2025. Because some of SpaceX’s tests involve 400-foot, two-stage rockets, with both stages capable of landing, tests sometimes subjected residents’ homes to multiple prolonged periods of damaging noise, according to the suit.
During the Starship rocket’s initial launch in 2023, the force of the 33-engine booster destroyed the launch pad and flung debris three quarters of a mile away, which the lawsuit said “violently illustrated” the rocket’s destructive power.
What qualifies as “damaging noise”? Asking because I have a neighbor who has the loudest damn leaf blower of all time.
Sonic booms and supersonic flight are banned over the USA because the shockwave can break windows.
That being said, they did get permits for their activity. Doesn’t mean they should have, but they did; so this will be an uphill battle for the homeowners.
Its a long shot cash grab
Cities or countries should have a tolerated decibel level. It varies per location, but if it exceeds harmful levels, you can generally make a ruckus about it.
I think you meant counties not countries fyi.
It should also be stated that all the ones I’ve seen specifically carve out an allowance for using lawn care equipment (mowers, blowers, weed whackers, and such) so long as it’s done during normal day hours. So normal noise ordinance is unlikely to apply.