The rocket explosion of a high-profile rocket SpaceX sent eco-friendly and civil liberty groups to rage as they see the level of damage caused to the local environment in Texas. The explosion generated substantial pollution that affected local communities and could threaten endangered species on Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville, Texas.

During SpaceX’s first orbital test flight around 8:30 that morning, the American aerospace company launched a rocket dubbed Starship from its private launchpad in south Texas. About four minutes into the flight, it became necessary to press the self-destruct button to prevent a bigger catastrophe. It instantaneously spurts into a ball of fire and smoke.

Elon Musk VS Civil liberty groups

Many people immediately took to social media, including civil liberty groups, to jab Elon Musk, the CEO, chairman, and chief technology officer of SpaceX.

The corporation didn’t consider the launch a total failure, but a flame diverter—a device that goes beneath a rocket launchpad and funnels a rocket’s intense heat and exhaust in a regulated manner—would have likely prevented the severe damage this one inflicted. The area around the rocket pad was burnt due to a lack of a flame diverter.

The company somehow knows that the lack of a flame diverter was a bad idea.

In a tweet from October 2020, Musk wrote “Aspiring to have no flame diverter in Boca, but this could turn out to be a mistake.”

SpaceX called the detonation a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” “that looked expensive.”

Consequences of Launch

However, the neighbourhood close to the launch site has been dealing with the effects of the launch. The launch pad was virtually destroyed by the explosion, which also left a sizable crater and launched pieces of concrete, stainless steel, and other debris into the water at Boca Chica Beach.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated that the wreckage from a Dodge Caravan was dispersed over 385 acres. This fire, which started on Boca Chica State Park property, burnt 3.5 acres.