SpaceX is suing regulators in California, alleging that officials rejected a request to carry out more rocket launches due to bias against the political views of CEO Elon Musk.
The suit against the California Coastal Commission, filed Tuesday, comes after the state agency declined a request last Thursday from the U.S. Space Force to allow SpaceX to launch up to 50 rockets annually from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
“The Commissioners expressly stated that this decision was not based on concerns about impacts to coastal resources, but instead on the political views held by SpaceX’s largest shareholder and CEO, Elon Musk,” the lawsuit claims, adding that the “public hearing record indisputably shows overt, and shocking, political bias.”
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During the meeting of the 12-member panel last week, one commissioner referred to Musk’s comments about the presidential election and Hurricane Helene.
“Right now Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet,” Gretchen Newsom said, according to The Wall Street Journal. Newsom isn’t related to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In its lawsuit, SpaceX accused the commission of “unconstitutional overreach” and claimed launches from Vandenberg have “no significant effects on coastal resources.”
“Rarely has a government agency made so clear that it was exceeding its authorized mandate to punish a company for the political views and statements of its largest shareholder and CEO,” the court filing reads.
The lawsuit was filed after Musk vowed over the weekend that he would take legal action against the commission. “Incredibly inappropriate,” Musk wrote in an X post responding to an article about the panel having cited his politics. “What I post on this platform has nothing to do with a ‘coastal commission’ in California! Filing suit against them on Monday for violating the First Amendment.”
