SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Sunday said that he would file a suit against the California Coastal Commission following reports that it rejected the Air Force's plan to give SpaceX permission to launch up to 50 rockets a year from Vandenberg Air Force Base citing his political comments on social media platform X.
What Happened: "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," Musk said on Sunday in a post on social media platform X. The CEO later clarified that he would file a lawsuit on Tuesday given the court is closed on Monday.
*Tuesday, since court is closed on Monday
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2024
Musk's reaction comes on the heels of a report from Politico that the California Coastal Commission rejected the Air Force's proposal to allow SpaceX to launch up to 50 rockets a year from Vandenberg Air Force Base citing Musk's political comments on X.
"Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet," Commissioner Gretchen Newsom reportedly said at a meeting in San Diego on Thursday.
The commissioners also raised concerns about SpaceX's launches being considered military activity even if they carry no military payloads, the report said.
SpaceX currently has permission to launch 36 times a year from Vandenberg.
The Air Force and the California Coastal Commission did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
Why It Matters: SpaceX is looking to launch 144 times through the end of the year. For the entirety of last year, SpaceX only completed 96 launches, not including two test flights of the company's Starship launch vehicle.
It has completed 67 missions using its Falcon launch vehicles this year as of the end of the second quarter, with its Falcon 9 workhorse alone accounting for 66 launches and Starlink missions accounting for a major chunk of it. The company now needs to accelerate launches to meet its own launch goals for the year.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
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