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submitted 1 week ago by Deep@mander.xyz to c/technology@lemmy.world

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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[-] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 30 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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

[-] vic_rattlehead@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

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

[-] 4am@lemmy.zip 22 points 1 week ago

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.

[-] lath@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

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.

[-] mushroommunk@lemmy.today 6 points 1 week ago

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.

[-] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week 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.

[-] vinyl@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

data centers producing enough volume to make people physically ill

[-] lividweasel@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

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.

this post was submitted on 04 May 2026
253 points (99.2% liked)

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