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SpaceX sued for alleged home damage in South Texas— The lawsuit filed by 80 plaintiffs Thursday accuse Elon Musk's company of gross negligence and trespassing for loud blasts from 11 rocket tests. (www.texastribune.org)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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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.

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[–] 30 points 5 months ago*

Didn't the company that makes Cards Against Humanity buy a bunch of land near SpaceX and then sue them for encroachment? Anyone know what happened to that?

Edit: $15M settlement + restoration

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    [–] 17 points 5 months ago (6 children)

    What qualifies as "damaging noise"? Asking because I have a neighbor who has the loudest damn leaf blower of all time.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago

    spell check probably "helped" them

    it does that shit to me all the fucking time nowadays. I'll write a perfectly fine and appropriate word for the context, and spell check will just change it out for the wrong spelling or just completely the wrong fucking word. it sucks now. probably driven by AI or something.

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    • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    The suit does not name what specific damages residents’ houses sustained due to the repeated sonic booms, but does explain that the loud blasts can cause damage to walls, windows and roofs of homes.

    This feels like a group of people just trying to make a buck. If they haven’t actually suffered any damage, it might be hard to win.

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  • [+] -7 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Spacex probably offered to buy out their properties already but they want extra cash

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Why would they buy property they aren't going to use? If their rockets did break people's windows, it would be cheaper for them to settle a lawsuit for the repair costs.

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