US Air Force suspends SpaceX rocket project on Pacific atoll, report says
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A great frigatebird chick on Johnston Island, within the Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Experts fear the SpaceX project could harm seabirds that nest there.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
- US Air Force suspends SpaceX hypersonic cargo project in Johnston Atoll due to environmental concerns.
- Biologists say rocket launches threaten 14 bird species in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
- Air Force is seeking alternative locations; SpaceX has faced bird-related issues at Boca Chica, Texas.
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WASHINGTON - The US Air Force has suspended plans it had proposed with billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX to test hypersonic rocket cargo deliveries from a remote Pacific atoll, according to a report this week in Stars and Stripes, an independent publication of the US military.
The suspension came after Reuters reported that biologists and experts said the project would harm many seabirds that nest at the wildlife refuge on the Johnston Atoll, an unincorporated US territory nearly 1,300km south-west of Hawaii.
The US Air Force had said it would undertake an environmental assessment of the project, but publication of a draft assessment was delayed after opposition to the plan by environmental groups.
The US Air Force and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The US Air Force is exploring alternative locations for the programme, a spokesperson for the military branch told the Stars and Stripes newspaper in a story published on July 3.
The programme would use commercial rockets, such as those made by SpaceX, although the US Air Force has not announced private partners.
It would test landing rocket re-entry vehicles designed to deliver up to 100 tonnes of cargo to anywhere on earth within about 90 minutes. The programme would be a breakthrough for military logistics by making it easier to move supplies quickly to distant locations.
But it could be too much for the island’s 14 species of tropical birds to withstand, according to biologists and experts who have worked on the 2.6 sq km atoll, part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
SpaceX’s activities have affected protected birds elsewhere. A SpaceX launch of its Starship rocket in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2024 involved a blast that destroyed nests and eggs of plover shorebirds, landing the company of Mr Musk in legal trouble and leading him to remark jokingly that he would refrain from eating omelettes for a week to compensate. REUTERS
