SpaceX sues California agency, alleging political bias against Musk and legal manipulation

SpaceX filed a lawsuit against the California agency this week after the body rejected a proposal to increase the company’s launches from the state’s coast to 50 a year.

The California Coastal Commission (CCC) made its decision at a meeting on October 10, despite the fact that the US Air Force approved the program on the grounds that the additional launch of Starlink and Starshield, a defense-oriented unit, is important for national security.

In the lawsuit, SpaceX claims the commission engaged in “blatant political discrimination” when other commissioners cited the political work of CEO Elon Musk, while attempting to illegally regulate the activities of a federal agency. The CCC declined to comment on the matter. SpaceX did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.

The first part of the appeal has received a lot of headlines, and SpaceX will need to prove in court that the commission’s decision was heavily influenced by Musk’s politics. But the second part is arguably more powerful: what is the ultimate legal authority over base defense launch activities, and do those activities count as federal or private if performed by a commercial entity on behalf of the DOD?

SpaceX and the USAF say the launch of Cadence at the Vandenberg Space Force is a “federal agency activity” because of Starlink’s capabilities and the company’s launch of other national security payments, even though Starlink is also a commercial product.

Under this interpretation, the USAF would simply need to submit a certificate stating that the proposed launch is consistent with national policy.

But the commission rejected this interpretation of the launch of SpaceX, because the company also launches payloads and sells Starlink to the general public, the agency argues that additional launches will require the company to apply for a “sea development permit” (CDP) CCC.

Commission staff recommended that the commissioners agree with the USAF. They argue that the Air Force is committed to using protective measures against sonic booms, and they point out the lack of evidence that increasing the launch from 36 to 50 per year will have negative environmental effects. The Commission will have another opportunity to consider the increase in submissions in the near future; it is expected that SpaceX and the USAF will look to increase the launch again, to 100 per year.

The commissioners were not unanimous in their rejection of SpaceX’s plan — the final vote was 6-4 against — and many cited their view that the launch was primarily a private matter, not a corporate one, and therefore required a CDP. But it’s true that some commissions point directly to Musk’s political career.

“We’re connecting the private sector and the public,” said Commissioner Mike Wilson. “This company is owned by the richest man in the world who directly controls what could be the most comprehensive telecommunications system in the world,” said Commissioner Mike Wilson. “Last week that person was talking about political revenge on the national stage,” he said, referring to Musk’s appearance at a rally for President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. “We’re talking about the promotion of this technology and a person with a lot of power in that, and I want to acknowledge that.”

The SpaceX lawsuit also cited a statement from commissioner Gretchen Newsom, who described how Musk “has been traveling the country, speaking and writing political lies and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help hurricane victims with free Starlink Internet access.”

He continued to applaud the willingness of the USAF to take additional measures to protect the environment but said that this should be imposed by SpaceX: “These things should be the work and responsibility of SpaceX, not the military and taxpayers who are doing this monitoring for the benefit of SpaceX,” he said.

The argument raises an important point about the difference between federal and private work, especially since the US government in all public and defense agencies receives assistance from private companies instead of purchasing or owning the equipment itself. (Eg, rather than DOD owning and operating a satellite communications network for national security and the intelligence community, it buys capacity from SpaceX.)

SpaceX apparently believes that its commercial launches are the work of a federal agency, legally speaking. The company is asking a California federal district court to find the commission’s denial of the plan unconstitutional.