


SpaceX founder Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission, alleging it denied his company access to the state because of his political affiliation.
In Musk’s lawsuit, he is seeking an order that would remove the commission’s authority to regulate the workhorse Falcon 9 rocket launch program at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara, which was decided on during an Oct. 10 meeting.
“You could argue that it’s bringing in politics, but this is a political matter to some extent because it involves the U.S. government, it involves the Coastal Commission,” commission Chairwoman Caryl Hart said. “We are dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race.”
After years of supporting Democrats, Musk has shifted his support to former President Donald Trump this election cycle, endorsing him, donating millions of dollars each month in a super PAC, and attending one of his rallies.
“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 lawsuit stated.
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The California Coastal Commission, charged with regulating and ensuring the quality of the state’s coastline, said SpaceX launches are not federal government activity and, therefore, must adhere to the commission’s coastal development permitting authority.
This comes as the Air Force is seeking to increase the number of SpaceX rocket launches from 36 to 50 per year.